Some
of the things that have helped me are to:
·
Be
confident: Webster defines confident as:
having strong belief or full assurance; sure. My heart is confident in you O God, my heart
is confident, no wonder I can sing praises.
Psalms 57:7 (NLT) and They do
not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to
care for them. Psalms 112:7 (NLT)
·
Avoid
sticky places, people and things. If
your peace and all that it represents is in jeopardy, it may be vital to your
survival that you separate from it temporarily or permanently. In other words you may need to take a sabbatical
from that which causes you anxiety including extended family, friends,
associates and church folk. Dionne The
Radical Midwife says it all the time: in the event of an emergency, place the
oxygen mask over yourself and then assist others. I need you to consider that if as a result of
the lack of peace you check out of here prematurely due to a stress related
illness (Heart disease, Asthma, Obesity, Diabetes, Headaches,
Gastrointestinal problems, Accelerated aging, Depression and anxiety)
who can you assist? Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can
understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ
Jesus. Philippians 4:7 (NLT) God’s
peace will guard our hearts and minds but we have to do our part which means
deciding wisely how and with whom we spend our time. However, if a time should arise when we have
to be exposed to those people or things, God gave us an assurance that his
peace will guard our hearts and minds.
o If you are arguing
with me about extended sabbaticals, you don’t have to listen to a thing I
say. You have a right to live in
torment, but for those who want change, who want to be free from the bondage of
torment and terror, you’re gonna have to do something different to get
different results. Anything less is
insanity.
·
Change
the channel: stay focused; put it (your mind) on lock. We are all guilty of pressing play and rewind
on events that have hurt us and we will gladly regurgitate the scenes to those
that will listen. What purpose does it
serve? My first thought is that it
allows us to release what we experienced, however, if we are still pressing
play and rewind with the same fervor that we did when the drama first aired,
that’s a problem. If we press play and
rewind so much that we neglect our responsibilities, miss meals, don’t pray,
read our word, cannot function, etc., that’s a problem. We have to decide to turn the drama off
and/or change the channel because if you’re waiting for God to do it, he ain’t
coming. God will not do things for us
that we can do for ourselves. How do we
change the channel? I’m so glad you
asked. When the old self-defeated,
anxious, accusatory depressing thoughts pop up, you have to combat them with
the word (your sword).
Victory
Nugget: That’s why it is so important
for you to read and study your word – it’s your secret weapon. The
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they
have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV). A stronghold is a well-fortified place; fortress. Are you really going to allow the enemy to
fortify himself in your mind? Are you
going to allow him to continue to dictate your outcome by controlling your
thoughts, actions and your life? Really?
Secret
Weapon One
And now, dear
brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and
honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things
that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
Every
time a negative thought pops up, change the channel with this scripture. It is extremely effective when you can say it
out loud and the louder the better to drown out the enemy’s negative press. Obviously if you are at work in a public
place it may not be a good idea to shout the words out loud. If all you can do is whisper them, then do
so. If you can’t whisper the verse out
loud then say it in your mind.
Secret
Weapon Number Two
In
the privacy of your home or car get a pot/pan; a serving spoon (metal has the
best effect); quote Philippians 4:8 out loud and beat the pot/pan as you quote
the scripture. The louder the
better. I guarantee you will drive that
accusatory spirit out of your space
I’m
out of time, we’ll pick it up tomorrow
In
His Humble Service
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