Psalms 16:17 — “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Many of us, as we live out our earthly lives go around hearing about having joy amidst the trials in life. But what happens when your life takes a turn you never anticipated? That doctors visit, that job loss, that life altering event that no one could ever prepare you for…
When we’re face to face with scripture, and life seems or whirl around us, how can we apply this joyful way of living in the midst of difficult circumstances?

Joy isn’t separate from suffering

We first need to ask the Lord to help us to make peace with the fact that joy cannot and will not ever be completely separate from suffering.

Yes, we will go through seasons that feel happy and whole, and seasons that feel hollow and filled with unanswered questions…but joy in the Lord isn’t determined by the enemies’ schemes or the realities of life on earth. When we encounter trials and tribulations in our lives, it can be tempting to believe that when the struggles and emotional toll come to claim our days, that our joy is lost until whatever it is that is plaguing us is resolved. But this belief is how Satan has kept millions of believers trapped in an endless cycle of fear, and depression. Joy isn’t on the other side of trials.

It’s right here, meant for you right now.

And yet still, the wonderful thing about joy is it doesn’t diminish the hurt and wounding of the spirit that we experience as believers left in the wake of struggle…but rather it makes room for peace, faith, and healing to move in. Joy of the Lord validates the scars, while simultaneously being a balm to our soul.

Jesus was the perfect example of this kind of joyful living. Throughout His life, he knew the suffering ahead of Him. He knew, as he laughed with his mother, that one day He would see her tears hit the floor as she knelt at the cross before him, He knew as He watched Peter mature in faith and lavish brotherly love onto him, that he would deny Him, He knew that despite His coming sacrifice, being beaten and bruised beyond recognition to save His people…that they would be the ones to crucify Him.

Yet He still lived with joy abundant.

And He did this because of His continual reliance and time spent with The Father.

Christs deep suffering has brought us abundant joy

In Christ we have the assurance that no matter what event, doctor visit, news, scheme or loss makes us feel unsteady, we are ultimately secure in Christ, and because of that we can choose to praise and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

   But we can’t do this apart from God. It is by continually being filled in His presence, sanctified, and comforted, that we can begin to walk in joy despite those struggles at hand.
Our joy is found in the truth that in Christ we have Salvation (Which is healing, restoration, provision, safety, and eternal life) in our spirit, soul, body, work of our hands, and covenant relationships, we can choose joy knowing that we are met on all fronts by a powerful God. Because we serve a God who is good and has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a hope and future and works all things out for our good, we can choose joy knowing that this situation is in the hands of God. Because we have a Father who gave His son for us so He might be made sin for us who knew no sin so that we could be made the righteousness of God and partake in the divine nature of Christ, when we stumble, we can choose joy knowing that our identity in set safely in Christ.

   And when life feels like too much, and we are met with struggle and confusion, and fail to comprehend and choose joy despite all of this, we have a deeply loving and compassionate God, who leads us and guides us and helps renew our minds so we can glory in the joy of salvation and truth once more — and when we choose to ask God to help us to have joy, we can take comfort in the truth that He will do just that.

How can you sit at Jesus’ feet today and receive joy?"

   As I sit down to right this, I have found that this topic is striking a particular chord with me today. I went out to coffee this morning with some women in my life who have been great sources of friendship and encouragement and ended up discussing a matter that had been close to my heart. I confided in them that the hurt and rejection I had experienced by an individual and received very wise insight and a healthy sifting through the emotions I was feeling but couldn’t (or rather refused) to name. As I worked through the hurt, memories, and expectations gone awry, I realized and admitted something I was struggling with that I had told myself I wouldn’t and wasn’t.

   Bitterness.

   In my own life, as for everyone else endeavoring to follow Christ, I have habits, tendencies, and reactions that I wish I didn’t. In this particular case, the Holy Spirit brought to light the reality of the state of my heart. Once I finally chose to sit with it this morning and realized that I had allowed bitterness to move into my space, frustration and guilt began to nag at me. I know better, I thought I let it go? Lord, I know this isn’t right, God I’m trying to move on! In an attempt to honor the Lord by forgiving a person, realizing I was in fact still holding onto the situation brought swift disappointment. In my earlier days as a believer, I would have let these feelings consume me and dictate my worth. I struggled heavily with a burdensome guilt and shame I couldn’t seem to shake when I fell short in any area of my life, but particularly in sin. I would read scripture and translate it to my life and current struggles through a lense of perfection and shame instead of faith and grace.
I endeavored to prove myself as worthy of God’s grace (because what do you mean it doesn’t expire after my self imposed limit of failed attempts?) out of guilt, shame, and self-hate. I thought that the longer I went without that sin, that it would build this type of spiritual credit with God, and I would be more worthy of the grace I so needed. It is with a much healed and grateful heart that I can now say that this isn’t the truth at all, and there is a better way to cling to grace.

   God’s way.

   Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

   God never intended us to view grace as a transactional deal or something we had to work to earn. But rather, a gift and driver of love. Where me and you fall short, grace is meant to meet us and bridge the gap until what we don’t want to do becomes something that doesn’t have a hold on us. And when we do fall short, we are forgiven and washed clean. God’s grace was meant to comfort and turn our eyes back to Christ in the midst of struggle. Your desire to do right, trying, and failing isn’t taking advantage of God’s grace. But rather, it makes room for it. Because if we never allowed ourselves to receive the tender mercies of Christ, we would never truly understand the sacrificial love of God and the need for the Holy Spirit as our helper. We wouldn’t fully understand and appreciate the shedding of Christs blood for our sins, and we would fail to see the holiness and sanctification process of the mind being renewed.

   So today, if there is something in your life you’re endeavoring to stop doing, and you’re feeling guilty and angry at yourself for messing up again…just know that God isn’t disappointed in you. Yes, His heart grieves for us, but He is ready and available to help you to cross over the hill of bondage through His grace by faith. Today, humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and admit your fleshly weaknesses, repent, receive forgiveness, forgive yourself, rebuke anything that needs to go, and ask God to help you to be able to do what He has asked you to do. God loves helping His beloved. He doesn’t feel burdened by our cry for help and grace, but extends it willingly and joyfully.
His love for us isn’t conditional, and when we are endeavoring to follow His ways and ultimately have moments of falling short, His view of us doesn’t change. We are safe to work out our salvation and sanctification with Him, without fear of abandonment.

How do you see the grace of God? Does it align with scripture?

   Many of us know the parable of the Sower that Jesus spoke of in Mathew 13.

   It’s a rich and wonderfully layered piece of scripture where Jesus depicts a Sower (An Individual who is sowing seeds into the ground with the intent of growth, and a harvest.), casting seed into the ground. Jesus then uses four different examples of the quality of earth that these seeds are landing on. The four separate grounds represent unique conditions of the human heart, which each receive the seed differently.

The heart by the wayside — “hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.”

The stony heart — “is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”

The heart of thorns — “he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”

The heart of good soil — “he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

   Understanding these kingdom principles above and also that the seed being reading God’s word, speaking God’s word, hearing God’s word, and praise and worship are beneficial and revelatory to our walk with Christ. But today, we want to talk about the Sower themself.
Me, and you.
Specifically, we want to address what we call — The Psalms 126:6 Sower or The Weeping Sower.

   We want to take today to not only acknowledge, but encourage the believer who is currently endeavoring to plant seeds in faith through the sorrow of tribulation. From grief to job loss, earth shattering diagnosis, transition seasons, singleness, trials in relationships, parenthood, mental health struggles and more…planting seeds during a time of deep pain and having to wait on said seed can feel daunting, and frankly exhausting.

   Psalms 126:6 lays out a scene for us which though short…is powerfully moving and relatable as modern day believers, even though the majority of us aren’t farmers or work the land anymore. Scripture shows us in this passage that whatever it is causing this individual to become weighed down by is so heavy, that the Sower can’t help but weep as they go up and down the rows. This is an individual who is so desperate, desiring, tired, exhausted, emotionally wrecked, and trembling with tears that surly at some point must have looked at the handful or bag full of seeds and thought…

“How?”

   Yet this Sower still chooses to throw these tiny little seeds into the ground. In faith. Notice that this act of faith wasn’t amidst joyful celebration, it wasn’t in great strength…but rather in a time of weakness and vulnerability. This individual was hoping. Praying, for them to grow during a time where they probably felt like their world was falling apart one way or another. This is a person who is showing up daily, whatever that looks like for them and their seed in that season, waiting for the Lord to give the increase.

Sound familiar?

   Maybe you, who are choosing to show up and declare God’s word, come into agreement with scripture, meditate on who you are in Christ, do deliverance, capture those thoughts, remove that sin from your life, learning who God is, appropriate and apply God’s promises over your life, endeavoring to read His word daily, pray, fast, and worship through the storm are also tired, weary, and weeping with the weight of all you feel burdened by. If so, you aren’t alone. There is hope and beauty found even here. Because after we’re shown a weeping, trembling, desperate Sower…

   We’re shown the joyful celebration and song of the same Sower as they walk around with bundles of mature crop. Of blessings. Of answered prayers.

   Maybe you’re feeling weighed down by financial stress, or betrayal, trauma, fear, shame, loss of loved ones, disappointment, or grief. Whatever it is that causes us to feel burdened with sorrow too deep for words, we have the hope that nothing we do in faith is wasted. Every seed planted, God will make sure to give the increase. We can also trust that God will lead and guide is and give us the ability through His strength to endure the waiting and trials that come with our current season. We are not abandoned, without hope, lacking, or left to figure it our ourselves. In fact, God has provided us with The Holy Spirit as our helper to lead us back to The Throne room of Grace and into wisdom and discernment.
That answered prayer will come, and however it looks will ultimately lead us down paths of joy and a greater bountiful harvest. We can rest in knowing that God sees every single one of the seeds we cast into the ground. Every morning we wake up, exhausted but determined. Every piece of truth we utter. Every tear-filled cry and worship session…none are wasted.

Reflection
How can you rest today, knowing that God sees your heavy heart? And that in the right time, you too will be shouting songs of joy, carrying around answered prayers and blessings?

Every one of us go through seasons where life just feels a little more. A little more stressful. A little less security. A little more sorrow. And yet for many, life can feel like too much to carry in seasons of trials. From heartbreak, stress, illness, and more…in moments of hopelessness, we pray that these five scriptures backed encouragements would be a balm to your soul today — and a gentle reminder to look to Christ.

Ecclesiastes is full of reminders on the natural human experience…

Grasping.

Whether that’s grasping for control, comfort, peace, financial stability, a healthy lifestyle etc. But we can take comfort in the fact that in Christ, all of our needs have been met, we lack no good thing in Him.

(Ecclesiastes 1:1-8) (Philippians 4:19)

“There is nowhere life can take you that God isn’t already there. His goodness has been established in your life from beginning to end.” -SonRise Church and Ministries

When life takes a turn we never expected, whether that’s job loss, grief, or sin, we can take comfort and rest in knowing that God is not taken aback. That He isn’t scrounging up or lacking in resources or ideas in order to help us.

He already knew everything we would go through and made a way through by the blood of Christ and His gentle, caring hands.

(Psalms 23:6)

   In the midst of heavy seasons, or moments of stress, the enemy can swoop in and try and find entry points in our hearts and lives in order to make things more difficult.

   Whether that’s fear, ungodly grief and sorrow, ungodly anger, accusation, addiction…we have hope in the truth that we are in governed or subject to these demonic powers.
You have been given “power and authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” -Luke 10:19.

   You can repent, renounce, rebuke, bind, take authority, and cast out any and all demonic forces and thoughts that come against you in Christ Jesus. Learn more about The 8 R’s to Freedom (Our holy spirit led method on removing what does not belong in a believer’s life) here!

Regardless of what your difficult season looks like, the Lord doesn’t expect you to have it all figured out or rely on your own understanding and strength to pull you out. In fact, when we choose to admit our weaknesses and ask God for help. We can rest in knowing He will help us. Ask Him to help you to trust Him, remain patient under trials, walk in love etc.

(Psalms 121:1-2)

God’s love is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His love for you doesn’t become confused, or distracted, or cold, or frustrated with our circumstances. It is steady, safe, and gentle with our hearts as He helps us to lean more and more unto Him. He will never leave you or forsake you, and soon you will look back and smile, and tell everyone…

“Look what God’s love got me through!”

(Jeremiah 31:3)

How can you apply these reminders to your life today?

   We all know the feeling of being in a season of in-between. When what we’re praying for isn’t quite here yet, but we aren’t where we were…it can cause us to feel a mix of emotions. From gratefulness, all the way to discouragement. This is a time were pressing into the Lord is vital to staying spiritually filled and operative. But what happens when hope starts to bleed into frustration, and faith into fear?
   
  What do we do when we’re not walking in gratefulness? When we're having trouble remaining in faith and with hopeful expectancy on God’s promises during the in-between? How do we cross the great divide, from waiting in fear and frustration to hope and faith again? And how does God see us when this becomes our battle?
 
  Many Christians subconsciously believe that when they struggle to operate perfectly in faith amidst the trials of life that God’s view of them changes. Deep inside, it can become easy to believe that He sees us as less worthy, unlovable, too much, not enough, weak, or even in anger when we struggle because of our own fear. Whether that fear stems from our own experiences with imperfect love, hurtful relationships, hurt and woundings of the spirit, trauma, and even a generational stronghold of the mind passed down. But God’s word tells us this in Malachai 3:6 — "For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."

   Because Gods love for us never changes, we have hope.
   Because Gods goodness never changes, we have hope.
   Because Gods promises never changes, we have hope.
   Because Gods character never changes, we have hope.
   
   Because God never changes, His view of us remains one of perfect love. We never have to be worried that His heart will change towards us just because ours is struggling to remain in hope and is grasping to stay afloat in faith.

   When in a waiting season, the greatest thing we can do isn’t to work harder, do better, perfect ourselves, or take matters into our own hands. But rather, it is to avert our gaze onto the God of the universe. Whether that be through praise and worship, journaling, listening to sermons, memorizing or memorizing scripture…having our gaze’s turned from our worries and problems to Adoni, Ancient of Days, I Am that I Am, Yeshua, The Red Rose of Sharon, our Strong Tower, our Deliverer is what restores our energy and brings a fresh wind in our sails. It is in the continual and intentional keeping of our gaze on him by grace through faith that causes us to be able to endure the in between season with gratefulness and joy. It is a strength not forced within ourselves, but received from our Source.

   We can take hope in the fact that when we’re in the waiting season, and we feel as if God is withholding good things from us and that we are lacking, our answers can be found in the reminder of God’s good character in scripture. God is our portion. He lacks no good thing, which means if He is our portion and lacks no good thing, He will not cause us to lack what we need. We can trust that our trustworthy savior will bring into fruition His promises in every area of our lives when we make it a point to focus on Him. Through prayer, repentance, deliverance, and ministry, we can become equipped and further encouraged to confidently walk and receive the promises of God. We can trust that because we are blood bought children of Christ who are endeavoring to have a renewed mind in Christ and a personal relationship with the Lord, that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, even if they aren’t where we want them right now, because God is in them with us. He has not abandoned us in the waiting.

      When we’re in a season of “I’m not where I used to be” but “I’m not where I want to be…”, we can take it as an opportunity to see Jesus as our ultimate provision and High Priest, on both days where you feel empowered, and days where you feel weary.
   
   If you’re endeavoring to wait in faith and hope on God’s promises and provisions, we encourage you to watch our teaching — “Waiting on God” today!

How have your eyes fallen onto your worries and fears? How can you choose instead today to avert them back to Christ?

   One of the most emotionally intense moments we see with Jesus in scripture is Him cleansing the temple. So distraught was our Lord and Savior with the iniquity they had invited into the holy temple that He said was meant to be “a house of prayer…”, that He overthrew the tables, the money changers, and the seats of those who sold doves. These people had taken something that was meant to be used to commune with the Lord and worship Him in truth and turned it into a place of idol, dishonest worship.

  The temple, a place of worship and intimacy with God became filled with profiteers who worked alongside the priests to rob people by forcing them to purchase approved sacrificial animals at largely inflated prices. These corrupt men did all of these things in the outer courts of the temple, where gentiles were allowed to worship. As you can imagine, it made it impossible for them to do so with all the yelling, bartering, buying, and selling. While this story of Jesus is unique to that one moment in scripture, we as modern-day believers have much, we can glean from it. Today, we are under the new law and do not need to visit a temple in order to commune with God. In fact, God’s word tells us that we are the “temple of the Holy Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and have been bought with a price.

   And that price is Jesus’ blood.

   Because of this New Blood Covenant, we are able to worship God in spirit and in truth with the vessels God gave to us…But what happens when the noise of foreign powers and assignments causes us to struggle to talk to God, let alone hear Him and partake in the divine nature? To build an intimate relationship? To walk in righteousness and faith? To trust Him as our Lord and Savior and receive the promises of God? When unrepentant sin, bitterness, resentment, fear, witchcraft, jealousy and such are allowed access and the ability to run rampant within our hearts and lives, it can hinder us from walking in love, faith, and offering our bodies up as a living sacrifice. Spiritual warfare is very real…and the good news is Jesus has equipped you to dethrone, flip tables, cast out and rebuke anything that is not of God in Jesus name.

   Those intrusive thoughts you struggle with? Depression? Fear? Insecurity? Addiction? Hopelessness? Pride? Unrighteous Anger? All of these things can be taken authority over after repentance and de-seated and, for lack of better words, shut up! It does not have to wreak havoc within the temple God gave you and within the life the Lord has blessed you with. Jesus died in order to give you salvation, which means: Healing, Restoration, Provision, Safety, and Eternal life in your spirit, soul, body, work of your hands, and covenant relationships. Where Jesus came to give life and freedom in all these areas, scripture tells us that the Devil “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour…” (1 Peter 5:8)

   We as Christians should have the same earnest, zealous, and fiery passion that Jesus did when He saw His Fathers temple being defiled when we too see the fruits of Satan’s kingdom working within our hearts and lives. Jesus didn’t try to reason, argue, plead, or ignore these men of profit…so neither should we when it comes to the condition of our hearts and lives.

   “But what if I don’t have that same passionate desire, but I want to?”

   Ask the Lord to help you to see sin and iniquity and the spiritual powers at work in your heart as an enemy in need of immediate removal by grace through faith! God is not a prideful, distant, detached God. He sees the struggle within all of us, regardless of what that looks like. Ask God to help you to have a desire to be free, to crave His word, His presence, and to have a renewing of the mind in Christ Jesus and He will!
Do you have rivalry? Discontentment? Unhealthy patterns? Bitterness? All of these things the Lord Jesus said He has“given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
But how exactly are we as blood bought children of God supposed to do this? This ministry has had the great honor and pleasure of being able to do deliverance, ministry, and discipleship for Christians from every walk of life for many years by the power of God and have learned and prayerfully put together a list we call The 8 R's to Freedom. Below, are the 8 R’s we have been using to help get people free from everything above listed, and more. We ask that you prayerfully consider and read through this list, as well as watch our teaching “The 8 R’s to Freedom”, for a more extensive teaching and deliverance session.

“What areas of my life do I need freedom in and from?”

   As believers, we’re told day in and day out that God loves us. Yet for many, this can be a difficult truth to understand and receive. Especially when our own father figures love was modeled imperfectly, or for many…not at all. For countless people, earthly fathers were either absent, physically, verbally, or emotionally abusive, or works based, which has created a deep hurt and wounding of the spirit that causes an unhealed heart to feel disconnected, unable to trust, fearful, or not understanding God the Father. It is a pandemic that has truly wrecked and led many into confusion, exhaustion, and feeling as though they have to prove through works that they are worthy to be seen, fought for, defended, and chosen.

   When there is a breech between a father and child, the enemy sees this as an open door and can come in with lies and twisted views on how God the Father sees and loves you. Today, we want to reveal God’s heart for you. What you never heard or experienced from your earthly father; your Heavenly Father carved into eternity and declared His great love for you in the shedding of Jesus’ blood. He didn’t just say He loved you, God showed His love for you and continually is doing so.

  Where there were conditions, God’s love is unconditional, where there was abandonment, God’s love remains faithful, where there was striving for approval, God loved you before you even knew Him.

  Below are 10 truths found in scripture to encourage and help you to understand the holy love of God and what His love for you looks like. We pray that by reading and meditating on these scriptures, that your mind would begin to be renewed in Christ, that you would have a holy revelation, and come to know and receive the love of The Father.

Reflection Question

How do you believe God sees you? Where did these beliefs come from, and do they align with scripture?

We’ve all heard it before: Trust the Lord.

And for good reason! It leads to growth in your faith, healing, perseverance during trials, and so much more. But what if I told you those weren’t the only benefits of learning to lean on the Lord and in His understanding?

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

The Lord makes a promise to us through scripture that if we learn to trust Him as our Heavenly Father, Savior, Guider, Provider, Daily Bread etc. that He will direct our steps. The wonderful thing about this promise is it’s relevance not just one aspect of our lives, but every aspect. This promise to direct our steps an make our paths strait when we lean on Him is for our spiritual, mental, physical, financial, relational, and covenantal. We have the assurance that when we in any area of our life feel as if we lack the wisdom and ability to move forward into love and peace, the Lord will direct us and lovingly correct out steps.
In otherwards, He will help us to walk on a path of physical narrowness (or righteousness) in every area of life. Including how we love those around us, and ourselves.

When we learn to trust God and release control, fear, and bitterness, consequently the overflow of our hearts will naturally change and cause us to see and treat the people around us with love and through the lense of our Savior.

Matthew 22:36-40

 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

It isn’t an accident that the first command is to love God, followed by loving our neighbor as ourselves. Scripture makes it clear that when we love God, how we live begins to align with His heart. The problem is that many believers find it difficult to love God because they don’t trust Him.

“Love” was modeled very differently for most, and for all imperfectly, seeing as humans are flesh and prone to sin. Whether that be through the church, a family member, or a spouse, even the most God-fearing Christians can never fully love with the perfection of God Himself. As humans, we can lazily throw around the word love and yet our actions say something different. God, however, never contradicts Himself. His word never comes back void, and His love is without flaw. This struggle to trust and therefor love God fully, as common as it is, causes a believer to struggle to receive the fullness of God’s peace and provisions; which in turn makes it easy for someone to instead of reacting with the attributes of love (patience, kindness, does not envy or boast etc.…) to alternatively react with the fruits of the principalities that operate within Satan’s kingdom.

Where patience should rule…irritability and being easily provoked might take over.
Where peace should rule, discourse and chaos might ensue...

Where joy and kindness, self-control, and the other attributes of love should reign in our relationships…fear, guilt, self-preservation/ protection, bitterness, lying, and more can move in when we don’t trust and lean on the Lord to guide us. These counterfeit reactions we have can stem from the hurt, pain, and desire to control our circumstances. All of these are driven by yet an even more central problem residing in the human heart.

Fear.

Whether it’s fear of the future, losing control, being hurt, living in poverty, your children repeating the same sin as you, your spouse not understanding or accepting you etc. When we don’t trust in God’s plan, His love, His redemption, how He sees those around us, His promises; we will find it exceedingly more difficult and even sometimes impossible to react with love. So, how can we begin to love and trust God more and in turn, walk in love with those around us?

By meditating on scripture, studying God’s word, praising the Lord, doing deliverance, repenting, forgiving, and choosing to step away from old sin patterns. It is a holy process of sanctification and a renewing of our minds that moves us forward into learning to trust God. One we are all walking out daily.

Biblical resources are a key step in learning more about the Lord, as well as receiving Deliverance and freedom to be able to walk in peace and healing. If you’re wanting to react and respond more with love and learn more about what love is and isn’t, then watch or listen to our teaching "Love-If It's Not Love What Is It?" on our website or app today!

 And remember…God isn’t just worthy of your trust because someone at church said so. He’s worthy of your trust because He is perfect. His love is unlike mans. You don’t need to be afraid of Him withdrawing, turning a blind eye, becoming provoked, holding you in contempt, betraying you, or abandoning you. He is your daily bread, your provision, your security, your redeemer, your creator.

  Don't forget to watch our newest teaching below, or read our most recent blogposts for more biblical encouragement!

When we as believers encounter health crisis’ it can be easy to become overwhelmed with all of the well-meaning advice. But to a person who is already undergoing the hardships that come with a struggling body, sometimes we just need to go back to the foundations of faith. Even more so when we’re standing in faith, yet haven’t seen the improvement we’re praying and believing for just yet.

The remedy to a weary, exhausted soul is being reminded and filled with the promises of God’s good love.

Today, we aren’t here to tell you what you’re doing wrong or need to do more of. But simply comfort you with the healing power of scripture.

Regardless of how isolated you might feel, we hope to encourage you with the truth that God is capable of not only handling your health issues, but your heart as you navigate with Him the path back to health. You are not forsaken, alone, forgotten, or abandoned. The Lord is “near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18). He is close and tending to you with great love and care. He is your refreshment, encouragement, sustainment, and life.

With that being said, below are three bible verses we encourage you to meditate on to help you to lean onto the Lord during this season of hardship.

     3. Psalms 34:19 “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord
       delivers him from them all.”

The smell of cinnamon and crisp nights is in the air.

October has come and gone, and thanksgiving is just around the corner.

Which means prepping, traveling, shuttling the kids to school, attending holiday parties, volunteering, financial strain…the list can go on and on.

But in the midst of the busy, the Lord invites us to draw our strength from Him, and to stay rooted in the peace of Christ.

Because when we make Christ our reason, our mindset and the posture of our hearts shift. Business turns into intentionality, and tasks into heartfelt worship.

Below are three intentional ways you can make Christ the center of your day regardless of if this season brings busier, longer days, or slower, cozier ones.

Choosing a scripture to memorize is wonderful way to get to know God’s word by heart…but so is intentionally acting upon it.

Pick a piece of scripture that you feel like resonates with you that day, or week, or in this season, and ask the Lord to help you to be able to obey Him by applying it to your everyday life.

For example, if you’re in need of patience, choosing a verse such as:

Ephesians 4:2
“With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Making it a point throughout your day to be on the lookout for situations, conversations, and activities that you can practice being more patient and slow to frustration in is a wonderful way to keep our hearts focused on Christ.

Another example could be if you’re struggling with gratefulness, choosing a piece of scripture such as:

1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Being intentional to hold your thoughts captive throughout the day, and instead when you find yourself complaining, choosing to turn it into grateful thanksgiving and praise.

Thanking the Lord for all the blessings He has given, and even the trials, for in them He will show His glory and rescue you with His mighty hand.

As someone who’s job is being on a screen…I can say firsthand how difficult it can be to disconnect from the blue light and enter into more intentional prayer time.

Using screens every now and again and or in moderation as part of intentional family time, or down time, isn’t a bad thing. But when they interfere with genuine connection and prayer, it can be used as a weapon against our already tired minds and bodies.

Choosing to swap screentime for intentional intercession and prayer is a wonderful way to release your worries and stresses to the Lord instead of drowning them in what the world has to say.

Below are ideas on what to pray over/ about if you’re having trouble knowing where to start:

• Pray over your home
• Pray over your spouse
• Pray and thank the Lord for His provisions
• Pray and thank the Lord for your identity in Christ
• Pray WITH your spouse
• Teach your kids a short form prayer
• Call a friend and ask to pray together
• Pray through the Psalms
• Pray using the different names of God

Business, tasks, responsibilities…

Just those words alone can be enough sometimes to make you catch your breath.

When there seems to be too much to do, and not enough of you to get it all done, taking time out of your day to sit with the Lord and ask Him to help plan your day ahead is a wonderful way to learn from the God of order Himself.

The Lord knows our hearts, struggles, obligations, and tasks.

He knows what needs to be done, and how to steward the same 24 hours we all have been given better than even the most organized of people do.

He created the earth and everything in it in, He created us in the proper time, He removes and gives at the perfect moment in our lives…all with perfect timing and intentionality.

We can glean so much from just giving up what we think our day needs to look like and allowing our Heavenly Father to take the lead instead.

So, as we all move about the business of the holiday season. May we lean on the Lord more and more. Allowing Him to prune and shape our days, intentions, and habits.

May we trust in the Lord’s timing and judgement and center our days around Him as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings this season.

I recently experienced one of the lowest points of my life.

In a time where joy should have come naturally and celebration in abundance…I was met with crushing disappointment and broken heartedness.

I felt abandoned by God, like He had pulled the rug out from under me…

Where are all those promises, Lord, that you promised me?

I knew in my heart of hearts that the Lord would see me through this, He had done so before. In fact, I had been through a season previously where the promise for God to heal me physically and mentally seemed so far…yet I clung to Him, came into agreement and appropriated and applied His promise to heal me.

The result was receiving the exact promise I was praying for.

Physical Healing.

He worked in wonderful, miraculous ways. I knew God was capable of doing so again, even though this trial was a different sort of difficult.

I knew, and yet even still I was almost overcome with hopelessness and depression. I felt jaded, frustrated, and confused. If this sounds like you, and you’re in the thick of your trial, desperately trying to cling to God’s word…you aren’t alone friend.

Regardless of the season or struggle you’re currently enduring, it can feel difficult to look away from the source of our pain and towards God and His promises.

In the Christian culture, it can be easy to see where we lack in faith in our own lives, and in hopes of fixing our own hearts, proving ourselves to God, or trying to control the situation instead of trusting in the Lord and walking in grace; we scramble and rush and make God’s promises come into fruition.

We think that if we just do more, do better, prayer longer, be holier, that we will see a return for our efforts.

But this isn’t how God’s promises for your life work.

All God’s promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus.

Not yes and amen because you did anything to earn it, but because Christ.


But here is another crucial element…not operating in works does not negate the submission and intentional repentance that each one of us should be diligent in as Christians living in an imperfect world.

Because there are spiritual laws. There is a reaping and sowing of either evil and curses in your life, or healing and blessings based off the seed you put into the ground.

While God’s promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus…His promises do come with a holy condition.

That condition is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14 - “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Notice the: humble themselves, pray, seek His face, turn from their wicked ways…then God will heal their land.

You cannot rebel against the Lord, live in sin, and refuse to give up idols and sinful passions and in turn expect blessings that only come from submission and intentional relationship.

We cannot expect to receive God’s promises when we are living a life outside of His loving care and design.

Some would be concerned that God’s promises being conditional would bring legalism into a believer’s life…but this isn’t the case.

Instead, this causes us to be diligent in forgiving those around us, walking in righteousness before the Lord, and operating in love.

This doesn’t mean that we will be able to live a sinless life, the Lord knows we are human, that our flesh is weak and bent towards worldly desires. He knows we get frustrated, fearful, weary, tempted…

Christ died on the cross so that we could live and walk in faith, repenting when we have done wrong, receiving God’s forgiveness, and walking in life and wholeness, able to turn from our sin instead of having to be in bondage and captivity to it.

One of, if not the biggest hinderance in Christians not being able to receive God’s promises is bitterness.

Bitterness will keep you in sin, judgement, and bondage. When you give Satan and His underlings room to move into your life, unrepentant sin such as withholding forgiveness can close doors of blessings in your life and cause you to live a life not fully submitted to Christ.

To receive God’s promises, we must first ask the Lord to bring up any unrepentant sin in our lives so that we can be in right standing before the Lord.

This isn’t legalism…it’s walking in humble submission to our Heavenly Father.

God’s promises aren’t just for the spiritual…they are for the physical aspects of our lives, the emotional, mental, financial, the work of our hands, and our relationships.

To receive God’s promises, we must know and believe that they apply to our current situation.

If you’re struggling with health issues, the Lord has made a promise to heal you.
(1 Peter 2:24)

If you are struggling with anxiety, the Lord has promised to be with you and strengthen you.
(Isaiah 41:10)

If you’re struggling with a broken heart, the Lord has promised to be near to you never leave you.
(Isaiah 43:2)

If you are suffering a loss (Through death, divorce, a breakup, a miscarriage etc.) the Lord has promised to restore and give you more.
(Luke 6:38)

Whatever the struggle is, the Lord has a promise for you, to help lead you through it, and bring healing and restoration into your life.

So, you know that God’s promises aren’t received through works, but submission, and that they do apply to your life. Now what?

In the face of now knowing the truth, how do we begin to receive it and live it out?

Prayer and meditating on God’s promises.

Praying and coming into agreement with God’s promises for your life and declaring them over your trials is crucial in stepping into faithfully appropriating and applying said promises.

An example would be below, if you are struggling with health issues:

Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

A Prayer:

“Lord, I thank you that you were pierced for my transgressions, that your body was crushed for my iniquities, that you took my punishment and gave me peace in You. I thank you Lord, that by your wounds I have been healed. Thank you, lord, for your promise to heal my body. I choose to receive this promise today in faith, and trust that you have plans to prosper me, not to harm me, to give me a hope and a future.
Thank you, Lord, In Jesus name, Amen.”

Standing on the promises of God is an intentional, holy, faith filled effort of submission and trust on our part. It is trusting that even if the world, or our circumstances, or the enemy, or our own fear tells us it is impossible, that the Lord is able to heal miraculously, restore in abundance, protect and defend with a holy and passionate fire for His beloved, and do so much more.

As we wrap up this blogpost, we want to leave you with this piece of scripture with the hope that it will further encourage and comfort you as you begin or continue to stand firm in faith and lean onto the Lord in this season of waiting.

Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

To learn more about God’s promises, how to receive them, types of promises, and more…head over to our free app or website for teachings on God’s promises to help encourage, reveal truth, and equip you to walk in faith and healing today!

Me and my husband for the last almost year have been walking through one health issue after health issue with his body.

It has been a journey of highs and lows. Happy days, and nights of confusion and frustration.

Hard questions, harder feelings to sit with, and disappointment on both ends.

As the spouse who is having to watch her husband struggle and wants desperately to fix him, night after night of silent prayers and pleas to the Lord with little to no physical changes or improvements for me to see in his health felt discouraging, to say the least.

And in these seasons where we are waiting for God to move, it can be easy to feel hopeless, weary, and frustrated at the situation, God, and yourself for “not handling things better.” when our spouse needs encouragement and we don’t even know where to start.

Regardless of why your partner is struggling, whether it’s from grief, health issues, spiritual dryness, etc.

The Lord sees you, the partner that is just trying to make things better.

The partner that just wants them to be ok.


It can be easy to become discouraged in rough seasons where your faith feels tested as you watch your loved one battle attack after attack.

Because when you’re waiting on God to move in your loved one’s life, the wait can feel unbearable, and can cause you to feel helpless.

But where discouragement, exhaustion, and disappointment try and settle into your heart (or maybe they already have), the Lord invites us to lay all our worries, expectations, striving, and fear down at His feet so that He can renew our strength like the eagles with His love, and refresh us with His truth.

One way the enemy likes to discourage both parties is to make you feel isolated and abandoned by God.

When you feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling,
or you get answers, see behaviors, or meet resistance that causes you or both parties’ pain…it can feel isolating, and cause a person whom the enemy is trying to discourage to point an accusing finger at God.

Have you abandoned us?
Do you even see what’s happening?
Why aren’t you healing them?
Why have you allowed this to happen?
When will you answer my (or our) prayers?

While these questions can feel all-consuming and overwhelming, we want to encourage you and remind you that you are not alone, and to bring those heavy thoughts and burdensome fears to the Lord, because His love isn’t put off by our pain.

Whether your spouse’s battle, and thus yours, is physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, financial, etc…scripture tells us that the Lord is in fact near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

So we can have the confident hope that even though we might not be seeing the changes or healing we want to see in our spouses’ lives at this time, while we might be struggling to remain hopeful and an encouraging place to land daily for our spouse, we can be sure that the Lord is both our safe place and number one encourager when we feel like we have nothing left to give and our hearts feel fragile and broken.

The Lord will provide, fill up, and tenderly care for our heart so that we might care for others and endure the trial of having to wait on God to move in the space between you and your spouse.

When we walk through a season as a spouse watching our other half suffer, it can be easy for us to place the mantel of savior onto our own shoulders overtime.

We have all the answers
The routines
The scripture
The mindset
The control…
Until we don’t.

When we try and try to fix our spouse out of fear, control, pride, etc.…we are operating in works.

When doing so, we aren’t allowing the Lord to convict, heal, steer, and prune our spouses’ hearts.

Our best efforts to fix our spouse can be the very thing that causes them to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and over exasperated.

This is exactly what I did with my husband.

My desire to see him healed, changed, and thriving quickly turned into control, nagging, fear-based routines, and more.

Not because I necessarily wanted to be God, or control my husband…but I felt that if I just did more that my husband would feel better.

I had taken another person’s healing into my own hands, believing that if I just could move things around in his life, that I would be able to fix him.

When I stopped taking my spouses healing and walk with the Lord into my own hands and instead chose to follow daily biblical practices and habits that built up my faith and renewed my joy in Christ, I became happier, more patient, gentler and more hopeful.

And so did my husband.

Instead of trying to take our spouses healing and or change of heart into our own hands, may we pursue a better way of walking alongside our spouse and the Lord in this season of trials…

May we instead look to Jesus, who is the bread of life, the satisfier of our thirst, and fills us overflowing even when we walk through the valleys and feel like we don’t have enough faith.

Pray the Psalms

When we feel as if we don’t have the words to pray by ourselves, with, or over our spouse; turning to scripture to help guide us in our prayers is an effective and biblical way to help encourage our hearts to trust in Jesus.

The book of Psalms is a wonderful place to start (though it is not the only place you can go to for this), and an example of praying through the psalms could go a little something like this-

A Psalm to cry out to the Lord to and cling to His promise to save:
Psalms 34:17-22
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
he saves those crushed in spirit.

How To Pray It:
I [your name] cry out, and You Lord hear, [me or us]
and will rescue [me or us] from [name the struggle].
You Lord are near to [Me, Us, Name however it should apply], who is brokenhearted; [name why]
You [will] save [me or us] who is crushed in spirit. [/save us, me, them, from____name your problem]

Pursue regular alone time with the Lord

Whether it’s listening to your favorite worship song, reading Liturgies, watching a teaching, memorizing the names of God; it’s important that if we want to be a holy reflection of God’s love as our spouse grapples with trials, that we must turn to our source and satisfier.

Deliverance Prayers

When you’re experiencing a day, or your spouse is, where one or both parties is struggling with fear, anxiety, depression, hopelessness; it is important to instead of running from those heavy feelings, pushing them away, or acting like they aren’t there to instead prayerfully take them to the Lord and ask Him where they are coming from.

There is a difference between working through natural emotions that come from having to walk through the valleys, and being influenced and held in bondage by spiritual powers whose main goal is to keep you in cycles of depression, fear, and more.

Writing down deliverance prayers for certain topics that continually resurface was one of the ways the Lord healed me and strengthened me in my own time of physical illness.

An example on, let’s say, anxiety/ panic attacks is below:

“Heavenly Father, I come before you today boldly in Jesus’ name, and thank you for the blood of Jesus, your healing, your mercy, and your love. Father, I come before you today and confess that I have allowed the enemy to cause me to be fearful of the future. 

To instead of trusting you and leaning on you, operating in fear, anxiety, worry, and dread and projection of evil into the future. I repent, and ask for your forgiveness, I accept your forgiveness and forgive myself and in Jesus’ name I rebuke, bind, take authority, and command any and all spirits of fear, anxiety, worry, dread and projection of evil into the future to leave me in Jesus’ name, go now.

God’s word is clear, that I haven’t been given any of you spirits, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. I thank you, Lord, for your steady, unfailing love. Help me to trust you as we walk through this valley, to lean onto you and not my own wisdom and understanding. I choose, Lord, to walk in the peace you have offered me. Peace not as the world gives, but as you give.

I trust you, In Jesus name, Amen.”

As you and your spouse navigate this life, your desire to be your other halves biggest supporter (other than the Lord) will shift and grow as you lean more and more into the healing, satisfying love of God.

Trust that when you have days where you feel discouraged and overwhelmed with your lack of hope, that the Lord will meet you right there, and in His strength, carry you through and teach you to draw your hope, security, and joy from Him.

As a child, I was raised in a God-fearing home since birth. We did everything a Christian family would.

We attended regular Sunday services, volunteered, went to youth group, prayed before our meals, and had regular conversations about our faith that united us more and more as a family.

I’m so thankful for the family the Lord put me in, I look at each member and can see how blessed I am to be loved by them and love them in return.

Was my family perfect? No, but we were a family that endeavored to walk in grace by faith and grow in Christ Jesus.

But even still, as a spirit filled Jesus loving family, there was a lot of pain, trauma, and brokenness intertwined within the family unit.
 
Brokenness that showed itself in my mother and fathers lives mirrored the same brokenness in their mother and father, and their mother and father.

There were patterns of hardship and spiritual rebellion and sin in my families’ generations on my mother and fathers’ side…and some of them had found their way into my family.
Into my life.

At a very young age, as a child still exploring the idea of a loving, Heavenly Father, I stumbled into sin that led to addiction, bondage, and the living of a double life.

I didn’t know others struggled with what I was, and i didn’t know my family generations had struggled with the same thing.
 
I had a natural bent towards this specific sin (though my participation in it was my own responsibility, we can choose whether or not to participate in something regardless of how long they have been present in our family lines.)

I went from a child of innocence, to one of secrecy, fear, and deep shame.

I felt like I had ruined my own life. That no one was going to love me if they knew what I was hiding…so I needed to fix it.

I needed to fix myself.

How could I turn to God with what I was doing and ask for help? Aren’t I supposed to be sinless? Won’t he be angry with me? I was too messy, dirty, and unworthy…I didn’t want to abuse His grace, so I sought to clean myself up before I came to Him again.

It was a heavy burden for anyone to bare, let alone a child.

But there was something inside of me that constantly pulled to, craved, and leaned towards what i was trying to not do.
 
Despite my best efforts, I failed continually to free myself from my sin.

And maybe the “bad habits” you’re struggling with don’t feel as heavy as mine did, but the Lord doesn’t want you to live bound to cycles and patterns.
 
The world would have looked at me and my addiction and said it was a “bad habit”

They would have given me tips and tricks on how to resist, be stronger, ignore it, or some would even excuse my way of living (though hopefully not at such a young age) and declared it was my freedom and a form of liberty.

But that wasn’t how the spiritual realm saw it.
 
Satan doesn’t care that we use terms like “bad habit” or excuse our actions by saying “I saw my parents do it, I grew up with it, it’s just how I am.” because he knows that if we sweep our bad habits and tendencies under the rug, hush hush, then he can keep us in bondage.

Satan doesn’t care about the intentions of our hearts; he just looks for open doors.

Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
As the psalmist writes here…he, like everyone else was brought forth (birthed) in iniquity, and even goes as far as to say that even at his conception, sin was present within His mother’s life.

The moment we are conceived we are then brought forth into a world where we traded perfection for deception, and wholeness for just one bite.

Generational Iniquity is sin and crookedness that resides within our generations that wasn’t repented for and thus, passes down the generational line.

Generational sin is like a farmer planting a field of wheat. He sows, toils, labors over their care, and yet he fails to notice the weeds that are growing amongst the stalks.

“It’s fine” he says once he notices, “There aren’t that many!”

So, he ignores them, or every now and again hastily pulls the tops of them up, not bothering with the roots. Just to say he did something.

But overtime, as the crop grows, they become increasingly harder to ignore.

He harvests his crop, though not without difficulty, for the weeds had done more damage than he thought they would.

The farmer retires his field to his son, as old age has overcome him.

The son of the farmer goes to plant his seeds, he toils, works, but find the weeds that weren’t delt with properly before keep choking his seedlings out.

Nothing will grow, and whatever does is stunted, and sparse.

It is now on the son to either continue to ignore the weeds or finally pull them from the root.
This is generational iniquity.


Here is an example of a bad habit that’s really generational iniquity.

As a child, I always had a bent to overeat.

Thus, I had gained an unhealthy amount of weight and carried it off and on into my adolescent years and into adulthood.

I also hated my body, operated in comparison, and dieted off and on which led to me losing weight, only to gain it all back again.

I couldn't shake the habit of overeating, over consuming.

But neither could my mother, or her mother, and many of my family members on her side.
Once I realize this was a generational sin, and that I needed to repent and did deliverance over gluttony, looking for comfort in food instead of the Lord, and self-hate, I started to notice my desire to overeat began to fall off.

I didn’t feel as if I had to eat as much as possible.

I noticed overtime, with intentional prayer and asking the Lord to help me to honor him with my body (and also repenting and doing deliverance if i found i slipped back into old patterns) my desire for food began to change.

I could diet, restrict, cut out, strive, perform, all day long. But it was bringing this generational sin and my own part in it to the Lord that began to heal and change me.
Suddenly, that bad habit of overeating didn’t feel so heavy anymore.

I found I had more and more of a desire to say, “No!” and it didn’t come from anything other than submitting to the Lord and using the provisions of spiritual warfare to shut the door on the enemy.

 Many Christians, well meaning, try and wrestle and bootstrap their way into freedom.
Whether their bad habits come in the form of:

Alcohol
Money
Sex
Food
Perfectionism
Self-critical talk
etc.

Most of our first reactions are to just try harder.

But while the Lord wants you to take responsibility and ownership of our sin, He doesn’t expect us to handle it alone.

Coming from someone who tried to wrestle herself into “righteousness” …what I was missing all along was a revelation of God’s truth.

Of holy, biblical understanding and knowledge of who I was in Christ, and the provisions of my faith that were made ready and available to me because of Jesus’s death on the cross.

I needed to know…God wasn’t angry with me. And He didn’t expect me to pull myself together and rely on my own strength to fix these cycles that I knew needed to end.

I didn’t need to clean myself up or make sure I had a certain day streak of doing good before I came before Him.

Because The Lord already sees into the deepest, darkest parts of our hearts. And yet He still sent His only son to die for us so that we could be reconciled to Him and live with Him in eternity.

So how can you finally find freedom from the thing you struggle with, and your parent struggled with, and their parent struggled with? (this also goes for cycles and addictions you yourself struggle with, a cycle is a cycle, and there is freedom from sin whether its generational or not)

Through repentance, Deliverance, and renewing your mind in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
We know as believers that ultimately, we might have a problem in the natural world (things here on earth) but their root is spiritual.

We have to pull up the spiritual roots of sin through deliverance, prayer, and a renewing of the mind in Christ Jesus to find healing from the sin in our lives.



At SonRise Church and Ministries, our goal is to help you do exactly that through our free teachings and online, recorded deliverance sessions.

To learn more about the spiritual realities of sin, grace, repentance, deliverance, and find healing, visit our free app or website and start “The Principality Series” today!

For questions on the website, deliverance, or if you need prayer, message us on our social medias or send in a prayer request on our app or website!

As a believer, whenever I would hear the words occultism, or witchcraft…I would roll my eyes and chuckle. Many people, like myself at one point, laughed and or chuck it up to the mental images we have been fed of witches on brooms, and warlocks with large hats.

And even if Occultism, witchcraft, etc. was real…I surely had no part in it. I was a Christian.

I loved Jesus, so how could I?

But what society has sold as “occultism” most of the time isn’t the reality in a persons life, believer or not.

Not only is it (in most cases) not the classic cartoon ish images or million dollar, high selling shows we see displayed now adays, where the only good dividing factor and main entertainment selling point is the battle between is a “good witch” and a “bad witch” (there is no such thing as a good witch), or someone who operates in “light magic” or “black magic” (magic is magic, again, there is no good in it) but it shows up in a believers life in our daily interactions. Patterns. Habits. Addictions. Families lines, etc.

I didn’t think I had participated in witchcraft, or occultism, or divination…until I learned of what it was and got free from it.

And what a glorious freedom it has been.

Where the enemy has devised to kill, steal, and destroy in a believers life through the deception of Occultism, Jesus Christ died so that we could be free from sin. Walk in wholeness and health through deliverance and ministry, and to live a life where we grow to look more and more like Jesus.

Many a believer’s life has been wrapped up in Occultism (mine included), and many has the Lord set free and redeemed them from such.

So, before you say, “This doesn’t apply to me”, we ask that you read this through, pray and ask the Lord to soften your heart, and that you would be receptive to the leading and guiding of the holy spirit.

Below is a short overview of Occultism. While this isn’t an exhaustive and in-depth teaching, we pray this would open the door for you to pursue such.

If you are endeavoring to learn more about Occultism and need biblical, sound resources, visit www.mysonrisechurch.com and begin by watching “The Principality Series” to learn more about the spiritual reality of our current world, sin, how to walk in spiritual authority in your identity in Christ, and pursue healing by the working of the Holy Spirit.

Occultism, it shows itself in many ways in both a believer and non-believers’ life. Examples including addictions, health issues, emotional issues, harmful patterns, etc.

Many people try to address, wrangle, and force themselves out of addictions, unhealthy patterns, familial patterns, etc…without ever knowing and biblically addressing the deeper, underlying cause and manifestations in a person’s life.

“Understanding and being delivered from occultism was necessary for me to get free from addictions and diseases I had and could not get free from.”
 -Pastor John Aldridge

The bible is clear, the truth sets us free, and when we don’t know the truth, are willfully or unknowingly ignorant, are being deceived into works, striving, and pursuing other methods of “healing” outside of God, we will find that there might be relief for a period of time.

But the undercurrent of that issue remains…and ultimately, the pressure and weight of trying to heal yourself will be the cause of burnout, and continued patterns and behaviors without any real, sustainable results.

This was the case for me for a long time.

 I struggled and wrestled with addiction that caused a lot of pain, built self defense mechanisms like lying, secrecy, living a double life out of fear...etc.

The harder I tried to “make myself better” outside of the Lords help and biblical provisions, the more discouraged and hopeless I became.

One of the problems that kept me bound in sin was that I didn’t really know what I was trying to get free from.

I knew I didn’t want to be addicted, but I didn’t know how to address it or what to address beyond my own unfruitful efforts to stop.

I knew there was a deep sense of wrongness, shame, and fear that came out of what I was doing. That I was sinning, but I had no clue why I was operating and doing the things I was doing.

This ultimately was one of my major hinderances to being free.

Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

We need to ask the Lord to reveal the truth and origin of our struggles, so that we can receive healing and walk in grace by faith.

He will do so by His word, biblical resources, prayer, etc.

So, what exactly is the truth about Occultism? What does The Word have to say about it?

And how does it show up in our lives?

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

We first must understand that our battle as believers isn’t one of flesh and blood.

But it is one in the spirit. It is a battle of God’s kingdom, and Satan’s kingdom. It is first and foremost, a battle for your soul.

Occultism is Satan’s way of getting us to open the door to destruction in our lives.
Leading us into sickness, death, and ultimately, if we forsake God, separation from Him.

But where did the word "Occultism” even come from?

In Astronomy, the word Occultism was created and used to describe when the moon would partially or fully block the sun.

When this happens, for a period of time the moon seems brighter and strong than the sun itself. It creates an illusion. A deception. We know the sun is brighter than the moon, but for a time, it seems as though it is the opposite.

This is what Occultism is.

It is deception and Lies in the form of witchcraft, sorcery and divination, which the enemy has created and uses with the intent to deceive you.

So, we know now that Occultism is the overhead or umbrella which houses Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Divination…but what exactly are these things?

Witchcraft: the ungodly and sinful acquisition and use of power.

1 Samuel 15:23

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Witchcraft is rebellion against God in search of one’s own power. It is an act in order to get something for oneself outside of God and His loving order and design for things.

For example, when a believer or non-believer participates in:

• Rebellion
• Intimidation
• Manipulation
• Gaslighting
• Blackmail
• Hordom’s and Idolatry
• Control

etc., they are not only operating by the influence of spiritual and demonic powers, (because these are all spirits designed to influence and deceive you) but are also operating in witchcraft.

For example, if I decide that I want to be shown respect, but have taken the liberty to use manipulation, intimidation, etc. as my method in order to forcefully gain this result, I am operating in witchcraft, and thus, in Occultism.

Divination: the ungodly acquisition and use of knowledge.

When a believer or non-believer participates in any of these practices, and spirits, the goal is to receive knowledge about themselves, someone else, the future etc.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12

"When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

If someone who is in need of wisdom and knowledge, decides to ignore the wisdom of the Lord and instead seeks and participates in certain practices to gain control and knowledge through said counterfeits of Satan, they are participating in divination.

Below is a list of supporting spirits and practices (though this is not an exhaustive list) to reveal what the participation of Divination can look like in someone’s life:
Practices (to name a few):

• Ouija Boards
• Tarot Cards
• Fortune Tellers
• Tea Leaves
• Astrology
• Colorology
• Numerology
• Spirits (to name a few):
• Spirits of Deception, Lying Spirits, False Prophecies…etc.

These practices, though the world will try and normalize and convince you otherwise, are completely off the table in God’s eyes because He knows that it brings only destruction, death, and pain.

Witchcraft, Sorcery (the use of both witchcraft and divination) and divination might seem like it brings about good, fixes your problems, or gives you “peace”, but understand that it is a mirage. Lies. Deception.

Like the moon covering the sun, it appears stronger and brighter…until it moves away, revealing its own lack of merit and power.

It will leave you hollow, lost, and more broken than before.

Occultism can feel like a heavy topic…but you’re not alone.

Jesus sees you, and the Lord made a way for you to get free.

In fact, Jesus led people into freedom from these very things.

Whether you’re struggling with addiction, manipulation, lying, participating in new age practices, eastern practices, religions, etc…the provision has already been made for you to be free.

You do not need to figure it out on your own, or clean yourself up before God. Instead, to be free, we must trust that the guidelines the Lord has placed for us are holy and true.

We must submit to the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, repent, turn away from our sin, and war the way Jesus did. In prayer and deliverance.

Jesus’s life, His ministry, and His death on the cross taught us and made the freedom from spiritual bondage available to us through repentance, deliverance, and ministry. (And accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior if you aren’t a believer)

You have the ability to come out of agreement with any counterfeit the enemy has brought into your life, and walk in healing, love, and freedom today through the working of the Holy Spirit in your heart through deliverance and ministry.

At SonRise Church and Ministries, we are equipped and ready to help you to step into the spiritual authority given to you by Christ Jesus, understand the love of The Father, provide Holy Spirit led teachings, and more.

If you want to pursue healing through deliverance, but aren’t sure where to start, head to our website or free app and start with watching our series “The Principality Series” by Pastor John Aldridge.

For a more detailed walk through of our website, prayer, and more, please message us on Instagram or send a prayer request through our “prayer request” tab on our app or website!


Blessings!

Don't miss out on our most recent a blog posts and teachings!

Every morning I’ve made it a habit to walk 10k steps.

Which leaves about an hour and a half of thinking, praying, listening to a podcast, or (admittedly) scrolling.

But the more I walk, the more time I desire to pray and talk with the Lord.

Because there’s nothing more revitalizing than a fresh breeze, nature, and soaking in our Heavenly Fathers presence.

But I would be lying if I said my prayers haven’t bled accidently into a to do list, or wish lists, or far off imaginations.

In fact, the more time I lend to prayer, the more I realize how often I get “off track”.

Time I had intended to talk with the Lord, on more fingers than I have available, have turned into my mind running away from me.

And I know I’m not the only one.

It’s no secret that as a society, our attention spans have dropped drastically.

Leaving a dopamine obsessed, and fast reward driven people.

We have everything at our fingertips, the click of a button, fast solutions a phone call away.

Long form practices, habit building, and self-control have increasingly diminished and grow harder to combat as we try and swim upstream the tide of distractions.

Our focus flickers, and with it we become enamored and “satisfied” by the cares and “riches” of this world.

Our hearts can grow cold to the wonder of God because we are so focused on everything but Him.

It’s no wonder that regular prayer feels like a battle of willpower instead of an intimate conversation.

Praying is a releasing of control, a slowing down and resting in the Lord’s truth and love.
Prayer is one of the ways we as believers get to know our heavenly father.

So, if I was the enemy, I would try and steal your focus. Your attention.

Because where our attention lies is a good indicator of where our hearts are at.

Many Christians are finding that they are continually staying stuck, frustrated, and stagnant in their walk with Christ.

And it’s no wonder, when we are constantly led astray by our own hearts and the worlds promise to fill in the gaps.

Where the world (influenced by the kingdom of darkness) lures you into fast (and cheap) rewards, “success”, striving, burn out, overthinking, fear, and brain fog.

The Lord invites us into “…perfect peace-” for those “- whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

So then, as Christians we know that if we want to grow in our faith, become more like Christ, and heal…we must pursue Him and meditate on His word.

So when you endeavor this, and find you’re struggle to wrangle in your thoughts, what is your immediate reaction?

Is it shame? Guilt? Self-accusation? If it’s any of those, accompanied by the “just try harder” mantra. Then you’re operating in works instead of grace.

When our minds wander during prayer, instead of beating ourselves up over it and striving and endeavoring to be perfect. Pause.

We need to stop and take those thoughts and imaginations captive. Analyzing them against the word of Christ.

Is it from God’s kingdom, or Satan’s? Is it from fear? Envy? Bitterness? Stress? Does it reveal the mediation of your heart and where your treasure lies?

These things, instead of being pushed down or cast aside and ignored, can be fuel.

Fuel to submitting our hearts more and more to Christ and allowing Him to prune and shape us to look more like Him.

Constantly worried about finances? What a perfect opportunity to present it to the Lord.

Thinking about that ever-growing wish list? What a grace filled moment to repent during prayer and choosing gratitude and thanking the Lord for what He has given you.

Can’t stop thinking about that one person’s tone? Or choice of words? What a perfect time to forgive them.

Instead of walking in guilt and shame and pushing away a wandering mind, we can instead submit each wandering footstep to Christ.

We can ask Him to help us keep our minds on Him. To lead our prayers and quiet time.

So today I encourage you to look at prayer differently.

Take those wandering thoughts and lay them right at the Lord’s feet.

Talk to Him about them, ask Him to reveal their nature.

May we bring every thought to the Lord, trusting that He will reveal and convict and help us to submit them to Christ daily by grace through faith.

   Chances are you've heard this very thing, either directed towards you personally, preached in a sermon, or read in your quiet time. But how can we even begin to have the heart posture and energy to praise the Lord when life's worries weigh heavy, and you find yourself questioning God's goodness? We're here today to sit with you in that struggle and point you back to the compassionate heart of Christ.

Firstly, we want to sit with you and let you know you're not alone in your struggle to praise God when life seems to weigh heavy. The gospel even warns us of this very thing because the Lord knows that we are but flesh. We tire easy and get discouraged fast.

Matthew 19:26
 
"But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Why would Jesus say this? Because He knew we would need to hear that it is partnering with the Lord and trusting in Him that we will begin to see a shift in our own "impossible." And for many, it looks like thanking and praising God for their current reality.

We at SonRise Church and Ministries understand, which is why we have had a team member write a short testimonial down below in hopes of encouraging you in the fact that you are not alone...and there is light at the end of this tunnel.

An anonymous testimonial from a SonRise Church and Ministries member 

I know what it's like to feel like the rug got pulled out from under you.

   Like everything in your life was finally coming together...only to feel like it all fell apart. In fact, much of the last year and a half has been me struggling with these feelings...one of the main ones being the war between knowing in my head that needed to thank and praise the Lord despite this new trial but finding it difficult getting my heart and being to come into alignment with that truth.

   I knew what I was supposed to do: Praise Him through the valley...but honestly? I was so, so weary.

   The question, "Why now, God?" consumed my thoughts. I was wrecked, disappointed, traumatized, hurt beyond measure. Because of this, I found it difficult to sit long enough with my emotions, to lay my heart and worries at His feet and simply praise and thank Him. I had my moments where I could...but they were few and far between. I was the lowest I had ever been spiritually, and I was disappointed in myself because of it. 

What I thought would be the happiest, picture-perfect season of my life turned into one of confusion, heartache, and a lot of sorrow. As I wrestled with the Lord's goodness, my trust issues, and exhaustion, I found my ability and desire to praise the Lord dwindled as I questioned God's love and character.

   I felt jaded. Confused. Unsteady.

 All the restless, tear-filled nights in prayer, begging Him for a certain outcome resulted in crushing disappointment and pain when that outcome never came. In the in between of wanting to trust God, wanting to be in His word, wanting to pray, wanting to worship...I found I couldn't bring myself to. 

 But where my strength had come to an end, the Lord's grace prevailed.

   Hebrews 4:16:

  "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

   We as believers can take courage and hope in the fact that even in our struggle to praise and worship God through our pain, we can come boldly before the Lord and ask for His help to be able to obey Him because of Jesus' sacrifice for us on the cross. It is because of Jesus that we are made righteous before God, are heirs of God and a co-heir with Christ Jesus and that we are saved, sanctified, delivered, redeemed, justified, glorified, and cleansed. It is His grace and the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts when we ask for help that cause our hearts to shift.

   Not works
   Not the old law
   Not striving
   Not perfection

   Isaiah 50:7
   
   "For the Lord God helps Me, therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face
like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed."

   Even when we struggle to praise and worship, we can not only have hope, but confidence drawing to the throne room of God and asking for His help. Because our struggle doesn't make us less Christian, or without faith...but causes us to rely on God's grace more and more and make room for His perfect love to shine through our cracks.

    Today, we pray that you would be encouraged by this message. Below is a prayer you can pray to ask God to help you to have a desire to linger in His presence. We pray everyspiritual blessing over you today and thank you for reading this week's blog post. Don't forget to share it with a friend today who needs it!

   Many of us have heard that we operate under the New Law, instead of the Old Law as born-again believers...but what exactly does this mean? Before Jesus' death on the cross, not only did a priest have to go into the presence of the Lord on our behalf and make a yearly sacrifice for us, but we were bound by the law. We strove for perfection, because the law brought knowledge of sin, which separated us from God.

   Galatians 3:19 says, "Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.". This happened because of Adam and Eve's sin in the garden.

   By eating the fruit, we rebelled against God which caused a separation. But God, because of His loving kindness, knew how to rescue us from our sin and inability to operate successfully under the law, because according to James 2:10 "whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it."

   This is a tall order to follow perfectly, because that is what the Old Law demands, perfection. So, God rescued us from the Old Law by sacrificing His son. Jesus gave up His own life and became the ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross so we could be reconciled back to the Father through the shedding of His blood. Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so we might become the righteousness of Christ and have the ability come into the throne room of grace boldly and have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, not through works, but by grace through faith.

   Yet, many of us are still operating under the Old Law, believing somewhere deep down that we have to earn God's love and or work in perfection to be righteous. Many believers get roped into this lie that the enemy has carefully crafted in order to keep them bound in guilt, shame, and self-hate, which causes a breech in our love walk.

   Romans 6:14 tells us: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.", which means that if we fall into the lie of operating the under the Old Law, believing that by works we are made righteous, then sin will rule us, because we will continually be trying to accomplish the impossible, and that is perfecting ourselves instead of trusting that that is the job of the Holy Spirits.

   So, for the person who is struggling with striving to be worthy of God's love, steps into self-hate when they fall short, and feels as if love from God must be earned, God wants you to know and receive this bible verse below.

   Galatians 2:16

   "Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

   You cannot be justified in God's eyes by your works, because by grace through faith you have been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, not by your accomplishments. It was nothing you did, but everything Jesus did, and this is a free gift that won't make you arrogant but humble you under God's mighty love and sacrifice. It won't cause you to sin more but help you to walk in love and actually live the way God has called you to. This doesn't mean there won't be bumps in the road, and it certainly doesn't mean you will become sinless, but that by grace through faith the Lord will cause you to sin less and walk in love.

   Below is a prayer you can pray today if you are wanting to operate under the New Law and come out from under the Old. Feel free to come back to this blog post and repeat this prayer in the future!

   

Type your new text here.

   It's no secret that life can be filled with many obligations that can press us short on time and especially energy.

   Many of us crave "me time" but fill it with distractions instead of understanding that what we truly crave is stillness and rest. Which can only be found at the feet of Jesus. It can be easy to seek a counterfeit of what Jesus offers us by trading it for immediate gratification and distractions such as our phones, Netflix, and more.

   So then how can we as individuals take steps towards daily stillness and submission before Christ? When picking up our phones, turning on the TV, or distracting ourselves with worldly things feels easier in our state of exhaustion than choosing intimacy and picking up The Word and seeking strength from Christ...how do we start to pursue the latter more instead of the former?

   God's word tells us in Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

   First, we must understand that intentional stillness before the Lord is being in His presence with the desire to have an intimate relationship with Him. The biproduct is that He will refresh us and strengthen us with His love. This doesn't mean we won't have days where we are simply tired and weary, but when we are intentionally entering into the throne room of grace we can trust that His grace will cover us and that we don't have to rely on our own strength in the business of our lives, but His. 

   We so often seek temporary stillness and peace in the things around us. We search amidst the temporary and ordinary for something only an extraordinary and sacrificial God can give us. Peace isn't found in Netflix, scrolling, your accomplished to do list, perfect grades, etc. They might make you feel good temporarily (and we aren't saying these things are bad), but when we are choosing to use the time God has given us each day and fill it with temporary things that our eternal souls won't actually be refreshed by, we will find life more stressful and will be more prone to the fiery darts of the enemy.

   Second, we need to come at this from a grace filled approach. 

   God doesn't want you operating under perfection and performance. It's ok to have a clear goal for spending time with God...but each day looks different, and when you run into a hiccup in the road, or your day simply isn't going as planned, the last thing God wants you to do is step into guilt, shame, and self-accusation because things didn't go like how you wanted them to.

   Work with the day instead of against it!

   God's grace is big enough and wide enough to cover your messy to do lists and busy days. If you have an extra five minutes to yourself, take that time to pray, listen for the Lord, recite scripture, etc.

   Lastly, we need to humble ourselves and ask the Lord to help us and cause us to want to spend intimate time with Him, that through our obedience and His love, He will change our hearts and help us to prioritize time with Him, especially when worldly things that offer temporary reprieve pull at us. We need to understand that we can't do this in our own strength. Our flesh wants to pull us towards instant gratification when we are stressed and exhausted, while our spirit craves presence and relationship with the Lord, which will give us the refreshment we need.

   Below is a prayer you can pray today for stillness which will also conclude this week's blog post. Thank you so much for reading, and we pray you would have a blessed week!

Prayer for Stillness

"Lord, I come into your throne room of grace with praise and worship. I worship you and praise you as Almighty God, King of Kings, Adonai, Yeshua, you are wonderful, Lord. Thank you for all the provisions of the blood, and every blessing you have given me. Father, I pray in Jesus name that you would help me to prioritize daily stillness with you in the midst of my busy days. I confess that I can't make myself perfect, and that sometimes it feels easier to pick up my phone or distract myself with temporary things instead of trusting that you will give me the refreshment and peace I crave. Help me to honor you in this and come at this from a grace filled approach. Help me to love and crave Your word, and presence. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

   Many of us have seasons where time seems to ebb and flow. As summer comes to a close, and autumn pulls many of us into a season of business, the daily rhythms of spending time with the Lord can often times be put on the back burner. "I'll get to it later", most of us say. Most of the time, it truly is our intention to spend time with God.

   Yet the demands and responsibilities of life seem to often times pull us from every side, and once we have accomplished our daily tasks more often than not we can feel so exhausted and tired, that the idea of having to do one more thing, feels overwhelming.

   But what if we changed our viewpoint on the 24 hours we have in a day?

   What if, instead of looking at quiet time with God as another task to check off, we instead lean into grace and work alongside the Lord to use the time He has given us each day to steward, trusting that when we have a day where we don't accomplish this goal to the extent we want it, that God's grace will cover us and lead us into a more grace and faith filled approach. What if instead of viewing the tasks of our day that need to get done first in order to be able to sit down and have our quiet time, we instead view quiet time as what propels us towards the daily tasks we have been given and empowers us to walk in love while we do so.

   We have to be willing to admit that we struggle to put the Lord first before worldly things, and also understanding that it is by God's power that He will cause us by grace through faith to pursue Him if we take the steps towards intimacy with Him.

   So below, we have curated three attainable and realistic ways you can spend time in the presence of the Lord regardless of the business of the season you're in, and we pray these would be encouraging and helpful for you in setting aside time with the Lord.

  1. Listen to the audio bible and go on a walk

   Grab your shoes, a water bottle, and your phone...it's time to take the bible outside!

   Whether you're walking the kids to the park, on the treadmill, or walking around the grocery store, one way you can spend time with the Lord and become more familiar with His word is to listen to His word. This also gives you a wonderful reason to get some sunshine if you're choosing to walk outside.

   2.Create a Gratitude List

   God's word tells us to be thankful at all times, so why not journal about it? Wether you decide to write it down on a notepad, type it out on your phone, or designate a journal for a list of things you're grateful for each day, the intention behind this practice is to keep our hearts thankful of the many blessings and provisions God has given us, but also to focus our eyes on the goodness of God.

   It doesn't have to be fancy, simply write out a list of things you are thankful for...some examples are below:

1. Food on the table
2. Family
3. Health
4. God's goodness
5. The plans God has for you
6. Your finances

   3.Write a love letter to God

   Even if you have just a few minutes, take that time to grab a piece of paper and an envelope to write a love letter to God.

   This letter can talk about all the wonderful ways you have seen Him work in your life, His perfect nature, how he sees you, how you see Him, etc. Take this time to become vulnerable with the Lord and praise Him for His never-ending love and goodness.

   Once you're done, place it in your envelope and store it in a box so you can look back at all the letters you write to Him!


   Thank you for reading this weeks blog post! We pray this encouraged you in your faith and inspired you to pursue an intimate relationship with God, walking in grace and faith!

Prayer

"Lord, I come into your throne room of grace boldly in Jesus' name and praise you for your perfect love. Lord, I confess that sometimes I have trouble stewarding the hours you have given me each day. I allow worldly pursuits and fears to get in the way of intimacy and time spent with you. I confess that I need help to be able to prioritize time with you, and trust that you will do just that. Thank you for your patience and gentleness.

In Jesus' name, amen."

   A deep burning fills your chest, causing your senses to hum to life in a less than pleasant way. It crackles, pops, and demands to be released.

   Anger.

   We all have felt it. All experienced its rather sudden tendencies. Its building, its heaviness. Its demands for the wrongs that weigh heavy on our hearts to be made right. Anger is a natural reaction to many situations and circumstances. While there is a fine line that can become crossed and lead us into sin, anger in itself is something that should be confronted and felt, and then moved on from.

   But what happens, when our anger is brought forth from deep sorrow and pain? When the enemy spins our tragedy and heartbreak into something he uses to tear us down, while influencing us to build a wall of anger in order to cope with the pain and confusion before us?

   When your anger turns not only into ungodly anger and accusation towards others and your situation...but to God?

   Firstly, I want to address the fact that you are not alone. This is something I myself have been walking through recently. And as I sit down to write this, praying it would encourage you, I write also to myself as a reminder.

 Often times when we become angry at God, our instinct is to hide it from Him and try and convince ourselves that we aren't angry with Him. But this causes more problems and keeps us bound in a cycle of anger instead of moving past it. The longer we live in anger, the harder our hearts become, and the more access the enemy gets into our lives.

   The only way we can move forward from this anger, is to first take responsibility and admit to the fact that we are angry at God for whatever reason is weighing heavy on your heart. We must also understand that our anger does not spell out God's character, but admitting to our feelings and what is residing in our hearts (even if it feels wrong) is the first step in moving forward.

   After this, I believe it is important to come to terms with what exactly you're angry at Him for and asking the Lord to help you sort through those emotions and memories.

   Then, we must take responsibility for our anger and judgement against God's character and repent for participating in ungodly anger and in accusation, bitterness towards God, etc. Once we repent and ask for God's forgiveness, we must then accept God's forgiveness and forgive ourselves.

   We must come out of hiding and shame for feeling the way we feel. Not because it is right, but because God is big enough to hold our anger. He isn't an overly sensitive God, and He is patient with us in our hurt and confusion. God knows the human condition, and His grace is here to draw you closer to Him and heal. God already knows you are angry with Him. Which means there is no reason to try and hide it or manipulate yourself and lie to yourself, acting like you aren't feeling the way you're feeling.

   God's arms are strong enough for it all.

   The anger, the rage, the overwhelming feeling of it all not being fair. Not being right. And the desperate attempt to make sense of it all and protect our hurting hearts.

   He won't run away from you and your anger, or rain fire down on you for being upset with Him. But He also is a gentleman, and wont force His healing on you. When we stay in anger, the door opens for the enemy to work in our hearts and lives, and there can be consequences that come with remaining angry and bitter.

    To continue moving forward it is important to be aware of the fact that there is a spiritual realm which influences and causes us to feel and think certain things. Doing self-deliverance is important in sweeping the house clean and stewarding the authority God has given us over the kingdom of darkness. After that, we must be ready to resist the urge and temptation to fall back into our anger and accusation. We resist by taking our thoughts captive and holding them up to the word of God.

   If you find yourself in anger again with God, know that deliverance often isn't a one-time thing. Be diligent in seeking God's presence and taking authority over the kingdom of darkness if you feel like you have stepped back into anger and accusation.

   Below is a deliverance prayer you can pray over anger, feel free to save this prayer to come back to it in a time of need.

Deliverance prayer over spirits of Anger

"Heavenly Father, I come into your throne room of grace boldly in Jesus' name and thank you for your patience with me and my heavy heart. I praise you, for you are wonderful and glorious in all of Your ways. Lord, I confess that I have been struggling with ungodly anger towards___, as well as You. I repent and ask for forgiveness for participating in any and all spirits of anger, wrath, rage, hatred, accusation, bitterness, resentment, retaliation, shame, guilt, self-hate, facades, masks, walls, and survival tactics. I repent and ask for your forgiveness, I choose to accept your forgiveness and forgive myself. I take authority in Jesus' name, and I command any and all of these demonic spirits to leave me and any and all demonic assignments over my life to become null and void in Jesus' name! Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and your love. Thank you that you are patient and kind with me. Help me to trust you with my heart, and to remain in peace and joy.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

Thank you so much for joining us for this week's blog post. If you are in need of prayer, feel free to send a prayer request in our prayer tab. Don't forget to follow us on our social medias for more biblical content!

Blessings!

    As followers of Christ, I believe it's fair to say that most of us know the importance of forgiveness. We are told many times in scripture to forgive our brother whenever he has sinned against us. And that when we stand praying that we are to forgive those who have trespassed against us. God tells us to do so because bitterness is one of the major blocks to healing and spiritual growth in a believer's life.

   But what do we do when that person's sin feels unforgivable?

   When it wounds us down to the deepest parts of our soul, and causes us great heartbreak? Dear friend, we understand. We have been there too.

    But not only have we been there, Jesus has been there.

   Nailed to a cross by the people He loved and came to save, betrayed by His own followers, made a public display for all to see. Can you imagine that kind of pain? Then, choosing to take on the sins of the world, the sins of the people who were currently abusing and mocking Him...truly it sounds like Jesus had every right to withhold forgiveness and accuse those around Him as he was dying.

   And yet...Jesus modeled something for us on that cross. In the midst of His suffering, instead of accusing them, cursing them, and shaming them...He asked The Father to forgive them.

   It defys every ounce of our human flesh to forgive the very people who abuse you. Jesus had the opportunity throughout His torture and death to deny the calling of forgiveness and grace. But in doing so He would have forsaken the agreement Him and The Father made to save us from our sins and reconcile us back to the heart of God.

   So instead of choosing to give into His flesh, He chose to give Himself up as a sacrifice and asked His Father to forgive them. Forgive us.

   So, when we have a person, and the moment we think of them or see them and all we can see is their sin, which feels unforgivable...how do we go about honoring God's commandment to forgive?

   We must understand that when we forgive, it isn't based off of how forgivable the sin is, but on our Lord's forgiving nature.

   Jesus didn't ask us to forgive, and then He himself not forgive those who hurt and abused him. We must stop looking at people's sin and judging whether or not its worthy to forgive based off a meter we have in our minds, but on God's nature and love.

   The Spirit of bitterness causes someone to cling to another's offense in rebellion against God. It says, "What this person has done is unforgivable and I can't let it go", and by ourselves...we can't. Which is why we need to rely on God's word and take authority over the spirit of Bitterness in Jesus' name. So today, we will close this blog post with a deliverance prayer you can pray in order to take authority over the spirit of Bitterness and take steps to freedom.

Type your new text here.

   "It's too much."

   How often does that thought circulate in your mind?

   When trails and tribulations come barging in, with not so much as a polite knock, I think it's fair to say that the statement above is true. It is too much, too heavy, and exhausting.

   For us...but not for God.

    Over the last few months, me and my husband have been walking through a situation that has caused much pain and heartbreak for us, and the people around us. There have been many tears, sleepless nights, and crying out to God. Accompanied with the daily demands of life, it all feels like too much some days.

   So first, know that you aren't alone in feeling that way.

   Trials and tribulations are expected, but they are no easy matter to deal with. Especially when they touch places in our hearts that are unhealed. Parts of us we can't help but feel the need to hide from the world and guard with our lives. But it is these very parts the Lord wants to heal in you. While God doesn't want His beloved children to go through the things we go through, He does want to turn them around for our good and His glory.

   So how can we as followers of Christ, lean into this truth? Well, first we must understand that alone it is all too much. If we attempt to do it alone, and shut our hearts away, it will be too much. We must humble ourselves and trust that God won't just hold our hearts in the palm of His hand but steward them. To move forward, we must receive this promise...

   While your current circumstances might not be good, God is. He wont leave you here. He made a promise to you that He has good and wonderful plans for you. But He is a gentleman, and wont force you to seek Him out, trust Him, and receive these promises. So how can we diligently seek the Lord out and put our faith in Him?

   First, it is important for us to know and understand that we need to trust the Lord with our weaknesses. If we struggle to trust Him, we need to be honest with ourselves about it and ask the Lord to help us to put our trust in Him. If we struggle to want to get into God's word, then we need to ask Him to help us to have a hunger and thirst after His word. Humbling ourselves and asking God to help us with the things we find hard to commit to and struggle with.