Forgiveness is by no means an easy task to do, especially if someone keeps hurting you or has hurt you severely. As children of God, we have a responsibility to forgive people who have wronged us. Not for them, but for ourselves and God. It doesn’t matter what the offense was or the number of times someone hurt you, forgiveness will set you free and not let the person have control over your happiness. We do this to keep from having bitterness and resentment build up inside of us like a cancer. We also do it in order for God to forgive us when we sin too.
Even if you don’t have relationship with God, the steps can help you in the process of forgiveness. You must always let in love to start forgiving someone. ” Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.” -Proverbs 10:12. Depending on the severity of the offence, time is a key factor into processing through feelings of what someone has done to you. “…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” Phillipians 3:13. After moving forward with forgiving someone, including yourself if you’ve wronged someone, it is good to meditate on scripture. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” -Matthew 6:12.
Give your hurts over to God so that He can take the burden of resentment and the pain away. As I’ve been getting closer to the Holy Spirit, I have found it easier to pray for people that upset me or hurt me than it is to retaliate. ” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44. Revenge isn’t worth it and all punishments God gives are perfect according to each offence. God can and does punish those who seek revenge themselves, and this has been true for me even before I had a personal relationship with God. Something bad always seemed to happen to me if I sought revenge and I’ve seen bad things happen to people who wronged me too, like instant karma.
Depending on how severely someone has wronged you, choosing forgiveness daily will eventually take away any hurt and keep it from turning into resentment. As I’ve seen my own mother die from cancer, I believe all the hate, anger, and resentment she held for people over the years was what caused it, along with being exposed to carcinogens. These hurts and resentments can cause other physical traumas too like high blood pressure, but ultimately, anyone who doesn’t forgive others will be worn down in some way. Don’t let what someone did to you affect your years down the line. Let go and let God.
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:11, 12. Everyone knows that they can get physically sick, but what about spiritually sick? I know some people are mentally unwell with various illnesses but I’m talking about catching something mental after being around negative energy like you would catch something being around someone who was sick with the cold or the flu. That happened to me one time shortly after I was baptized in the Spirit and when into a crystal shop.
I visited this store in Dallas that had psychics, crystals, incense, tarot cards, and other copious occult items that helped people to ward off negative energy, read fortunes, and other psychic fancies. Before I was saved, it never affected me, except in what I thought was a positive way. This time it was different. When I went in this time, I heard a sinister voice in my head repeatedly telling me to “Get Out.” I kept hearing it telling me that and when I left, the Holy Spirit told me that it was a major hang out spot for demons and other dark spirits preying on innocent, ignorant people. I was one of them before God rescued me. Let me be the first to say that most of the people who shop there and work there are not bad people at all. In fact, most of them are the nicest and most helpful people you’ll ever meet. They are just very misinformed about what they’re promoting and getting themselves into. I used to be ignorant to the fact that all of these practices were and are against the will of God.
Before I was saved, I would go in and buy crystals to ward off bad spirits. Little did I know that I was actually welcoming bad spirits to ward off other bad spirits and using occult practices. I used to do horoscopes, astrology, tarot cards and looked up numerous crystals to help me in different ways. God loves every single one of these people and it breaks His heart that they don’t know any better. God would love nothing more than every one to pursue Him and be protected by his light but He is a perfect gentleman and will not force anyone to worship Him or pursue Him if they don’t want to. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the United States, especially the state of Texas, who doesn’t know about God. It is up to us to pursue Him.
Anyway, after I left the store, I didn’t start feeling the spiritual sickness until the next day. I woke up in a horrible mood and was unnaturally angry and depressed throughout the day. I was also very anxious and could only find comfort when I focused on God. Otherwise, I was a very unpleasant person to be around the moment I took my eyes off of Him. These horrible emotions lasted a couple of days, like I was sick, but instead of being sick physically, I was sick mentally and spiritually. I had a short temper and everything seemed to set me off. I would also cry over the stupidest things. The Holy Spirit told me it was a side effect of being spiritually awake and that it was best that I refrained from visiting stores like that again. He tried to warn me before, but I’m the kind of person who learns best from personal experience.
Needless to say, I will not be stepping inside stores that offer occult products again. I realize now that anyone who has psychic abilities has the ability to be a prophet. The difference between a prophet and a psychic is one prophesies in the name of God and the other one gets their information from a demon or deceitful spirit. One also requires payment for their services and the other one doesn’t. Also, psychics don’t actually know the future but demons are excellent at predicting how a person will react in the future because they know that both people and history have the tendency to repeat themselves. Only God truly knows the future. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’” Matthew 7:22. This passage is talking about people who think they are getting their information from God but in fact, never had a relationship with the Holy Spirit and were instead tricked by demons.
This writing was meant to inform and try to save people from making the terrible mistake of thinking that being psychic, using tarot cards or reading horoscopes is okay. It’s not. It’s the occult, which is the opposite of the power of God. For any of you that are offended by what I just said, I’m sorry. I have been into reading my horoscope since I was a little kid and felt the Holy Spirit urging me to tell my story to warn other people not to look into these things that I used to think were fascinating. I’m not trying to change judge anyone that is into this stuff but I am trying to help them as I have first hand experience in dealing with this kind of black magic. Regardless of being a nice psychic or a good witch, all of it is against God. God can heal people, bless people, protect people and give invaluable information to anyone who wants to have a relationship with Him. Not only do you get all of this free of charge, you get an amazing relationship with an amazing God that is a best friend who will never let you down, never lie to you, and never leave you. Step into the light and out of the darkness! “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” III John 1:2.
God gives permission of the dark forces of this world to test us. We ask for discernment and He lets other spirits talk to us besides the Holy Spirit. They ask His permission and sometimes he grants them permission to test us to see if we really know Him and His word. The Bible is like a guide book for the way God talks and it is filled full of people and prophets who had first hand encounters with God and wrote about their experiences. Today, I’m going to talk about natural herbs like kratom, marijuana, and even alcohol. Are they really okay to use daily or are they really just temptation like Adam and Eve experienced with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took its fruit and at. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked…” Genesis 3:4-7. What does this tell you about the devil? He makes something that seemingly looks good and potentially has good health benefits appealing despite the fact that God says it is bad spiritually. From the time I was almost 19 to the time I was 30 years old, I smoked weed on and off. It helped with my anxiety, depression, social phobias, sleep, and a couple of other things I can’t think of right now. I used to say, “God made these plants for us, for our benefit.” But now, I know that it is one of the biggest lies the devil has made this society believe in today. Weed might be okay for occasional use, just like alcohol, but taking it daily is a huge “no no.” Like alcohol, it is something I believe is socially acceptable to do at parties or occasionally on the weekends. It is so much safer than alcohol when used in that manner. But anything done daily becomes an idol or even weekly becomes an idol after a while.
Kratom is a natural herb that is likened to hydrocodone in the fact that it helps with pain, anxiety, and depression. It’s been banned in many countries and I have had my own brush with it recently. You can become physically dependent on it like you can with opiates and opioids and I would only recommend it to people who have a need for it so they can take it over opioids. (Talk to your doctor first before thinking about switching over to this natural pain medicine.) The withdrawals are not as severe and it’s more natural. However, anyone with an addictive personality is at risk for becoming addicted to it. A lot of ex heroin addicts take it instead of heroin, but taking anything like this for reasons other than a substitute for harder pain medication is not recommended.
Smoking cigarettes daily and in excess can become an idol too. I have a major problem with this and I have prayed for God to take it away because I lost my mom to lung cancer a couple of years ago. He managed to take it away for about a week but I was weak and dumb and picked it right back up again. I have talked to one lady who used to have a cigarette in her mouth without lighting it for years before she got the idea of asking God to take the craving away, and He did.
Overall, I believe anything taken daily over a period of time keeps God from working miracles in our lives. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6. He is the true healer and the only one that can change us and make us experience unfathomable joy and unexplainable peace. Everything else is just artificial. I have struggled with these issues and I’m just trying to pass on some words of wisdom to those struggling with these issues too. Seek God with all your heart and you will find Him and experience joy and peace like never before. “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity…” Jeremiah 29:13, 14.
This sermon is about possessions and the end of you losing your mind and gaining the mind of Christ; well sort of. We’re going to do a reversal after this sermon about gaining the mind of Christ. It’s not the new things that change us, it’s remembering the old things that speak to us. All scripture is given for correction and edification. It’s not just meant to make you feel good. It’s mainly for instructions and reproof. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t lift you up, like the book of Psalms. The purpose of all scripture is to correct and to guide.
Philippians 4:19: “My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches and glory.”
Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
1 Corinthians 2:14: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
You can find yourself in David pretty easily. He had his ups and downs like all of us. But, read Luke 6 and see how much it’s in context with giving. Who has ever heard of something called the prosperity gospel? It just the good news of succeeding. If we look in the book of Genesis, it was a half truth when the serpent said their eyes would be open and they would be like God. The only thing we think God has worth for besides gaining possessions in this world is to make sure that we don’t go to hell, but everything else about the spiritual world is here and now…but that’s ludicrous. Truthfully, it would cause some of you to miss the mark if y’all were wealthy. Some of you probably couldn’t handle it.
Now, let’s talk about the possession of emotions. Who can’t control them? How many of us possess emotions but end up having them possessing us? Replace possessions with a non-physical thing. Materialism has made it into Christianity more than we know. Eternity is here and now. We cannot help ourselves but be naturally-minded about possessions. Some emotions are given by God to express something.
Mental possessions are also known as thoughts. Relationships are possessions. How do we view possessions? Relationships, thoughts, emotions… how do we relate all of this to the mind of Christ? You can only be possessed by one thing at a time. When it comes to spiritual matters, you can only be possessed by one thing. A self evaluation of what is possessing you is needed to see what is possessing you. The best thing you could ever learn: don’t have an opinion. If you want the mind of Christ, you are not supposed to possess your own opinion about anything. The mind of Christ is supposed to be our possession.
There’s another idea when it comes to possessions: stewardship. A steward is someone who takes care of something that is not theirs and treats it as if it belongs to them. This analogy starts to fall apart if you don’t even take care of your own things. Do we treat our thoughts accordingly and take care of them? To steward oneself is the goal. Replace all of the natural things with your thoughts, emotions, and relationships. This is why we don’t have nice things. The word for this is called discipleship. Disciple is the root word for the word discipline. How much more difficult is it to overcome laziness and what we know with something that is abstract and something we can’t touch?
Parables are stories to help us better understand a concept. This is how eternity works: Matthew 25:14-30 is a parable that talks about a businessman who went out of the country and gave money to his stewards. He gave one 5 talents, another 2 talents, and another 1 talent. The businessman going to a far off country is God and we are the stewards. Based off of the abilities, He gave us different things. God gave us the “goods:” His spirit. The point of this parable is not really talking about physical possessions. At the end, the one with 5 and 2 talents make a return on it. The man with one talent buries it because he was afraid. He called the steward wicked. He knew the Spirit of God and thought He was rough, but that is not how the Spirit of God is at all. He should have at least been a steward of what he had, but he didn’t. We should fill ourselves with His Spirit and spread it across the world. At the very least, you should have just maintained what was given to us. The last steward was wicked, twisted and slothful.
Have you been burying your talent or have you been growing your talent? Stewardship: it’s not ours to begin with. We were trusted with stewardship of the Spirit of God. Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” You are either burying the Spirit or you are lifting it up and growing. The Spirit of God is into the expanding business, not the maintaining business. If you think you are just going to maintain the spirit you have, that is not having the mind of Christ. You need to drop that spirit and pick up the Spirit of God. We can use our possessions to move the Spirit of God forward. If it is eternal, it must exist in the eternal realm.
What is the one thing that we know is eternal? The Spirit of God. To know God and be known by God is the eternal possession. The word glory means like a light shined upon or to look upon. What does it mean when Jesus says to glorify me and you? It means to know Him. “The Weight of Glory” by C.S. Lewis asks the question: what is a child’s greatest glory? It’s when a parent notices their accomplishments and they get told well done. The nature of it is just to be known. The glory of God is just to be known by Him. Children trust implicitly. They know how to love the glory of their mothers and fathers.
Matthew 18:3: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This verse means to trust and learn how to be in God’s glory. Don’t let it get twisted and don’t let it get recognition elsewhere. Doxa is Greek for fame and sometimes fame can become an addiction.
Matthew 7:21: “Depart from me you worker of iniquity because I never knew you.” We need to be good stewards of our thoughts and that’s what God does to unprofitable stewards. Unselfishness is a negative term but has a positive outcome. Most people would say we have too much desire and we desire too much. Maybe God thinks you don’t desire enough and you’re too easily pleased. We don’t truly know what glory means. If I know you and you know me, we’re going to be talking face to face and that’s exactly what it means to be in the glory of God.
Colossians 3:1-5: “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
Instead of asking God to give you things you desire, ask God to give you desires. Keep in mind, this can be a dangerous prayer. We think hidden in Christ means hiding within Him but it means forgetting who we are and gaining the mind of Christ. The anointing and the Spirit of God is not just to cover our mess ups. We need to use that Spirit and walk that path and to the point people can’t tell if it’s us or Jesus; our walk just screams of the Spirit of God.
So when Christ appears in your life and you take hold of the Spirit, that’s when we’re in the glory with Christ. There’s a hope that we can walk with the Spirit of God and He can know us and we can know Him. We’re not understanding what it means to let go. Minister to everyone you know and move past getting outside of your comfort zone. It’s like a filter of life. Get a Spirit filter. Don’t repress it, get rid of it and give life to others too.
Philippians 4:6-7 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” This is a bible verse that has resonated with me since I started my walk with God. I was watching Steven Furtick today and felt compelled to write about some of his message. “How many times have we asked God to deliver us from an agreement that we’ve made with the enemy?” asked Furtick. He also goes on to say that, “we don’t need to come to God asking Him to fix something that we’re not willing to change.” I’ve been a cigarette smoker for over a decade and that statement really resonated with me because I’ve asked God to help me quit smoking but I keep going right back to it. It might be that I’m not ready to quit or I don’t give God’s power enough credit. I can also relate to what Furtick says about having a default disposition of despair and discouragement waking up in the morning. It’s hard to get a positive mindset when all you feel in the morning is sadness and anxiety. And the crazy thing is that it’s over nothing in particular, just the automatic reaction I have when I wake up in the morning. I don’t like feeling that way but I’m glad I’m not the only one. Furtick says, “There are times when we need to break an agreement with the enemy before we can move on to the promise God has for us. You can’t listen to the enemy or agree to his demands. Before the promise of God can be received, the agreement with the enemy has to be broken.” It might be something easily overlooked or something so obvious that it’s hard to part with but regardless, it has to be broken. Sometimes the enemy comes wearing bows and wrapped in a nice package to throw you off the path God has called you for. It might even be something that you thought was God’s will for you, but come to find out, it makes you feel more miserable than whole. Anything that God calls you to do will make you feel uncomfortable at first, but in the end, it will leave you feeling complete. “If you don’t guard your mind, it’s impossible for God to guide your heart,” says Furtick.
“Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, ‘This is what the Lord says: ‘Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 1 Kings 20:13. Basically, Ahab was considered the worst king of Israel because of all the heinous things he had done. So, if God did it for Ahab, think about how much more God will deliver you if you are a good person and His child. Furtick says, “you need to involve God in the process. He is the God of unconditional victory. And, in your weakness, He is strong.” God will deliver you from the agreement you made with the enemy. All you have to do is repent and turn back to the path that God has called you to take. He has called you higher and is willing to give you more than you could ever imagine. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jeremiah 29:11. Pray about everything and thank God for the good, the bad, and in between, and one day you will get to a goal that you only thought possible in your dreams.
My name is Amy Adams and I’m from Dallas, Texas. I currently live in Red Oak, Texas and have a 6 year old daughter. I have believed in God all of my life but until recently, never had a relationship with Him. He is an excellent Father, Friend, Helper, and God who has completely changed the way I view myself and what I can aspire to.
A lot of my blogs are based on sermons I’ve heard while others are based off of my personal experiences and conversations I’ve had with the Holy Spirit.
Most of my Christian life, I don’t believe I was a very good Christian. I thought I was a good person but God has graciously shown me a little at a time all my flaws that I always criticized or judged others for doing. Just those 2 words, criticize and judge, show just how bad of a Christian I was. I’m still working on not being critical and judgemental of others, including myself, but I feel there isn’t anyone on this planet who doesn’t judge someone by their actions and appearances.
The true essence of being a Christian is to gain the mind of Christ, love God and love people like God loves people. These are things that are impossible to achieve overnight. For many people, it’s extremely hard to like difficult people, let alone, like them but that’s what God has called us to do. Religion completely constricts people to grow in their walk with Christ and my blogs are meant to encourage, inspire, and show the love of God through my words. I hope God speaks to anyone who reads my blogs. He has a funny way of reaching people in the most uncanny ways.
I’m hoping by the end of 2022, I will get enough people following me on my website to come out with a book idea. I hope to reach faith-based publishers who see my potential and hopefully one day, can be as impactful as people such as Joyce Meyer, Max Lucado, and Sarah Young. These authors have all written books that have touched me on a personal level and have helped me grow in my relationship with Christ and have made me more confident in my walk with Him.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
Rise Of The Pheonix 