These two areas are huge. For now we will try to keep it very brief and lay some foundations...
Healing - Spiritual, Emotional, Physical and Mental
Different levels of healing are available - and all will be needed at some point. Please do not think that a quick prayer will sort everything out in 2 minutes though! Be assured that the journey God has you on ends in wholeness - there is more of this in the Relationship Section but it is vital to go through some basics right now! You are promised a place of total freedom & peace in Heaven, but you can start to walk in the promises of God today...
SPIRITUAL
This is the deepest and most important area...
As we have already read - you have now passed from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Light! Spiritually this is HUGE. It's like changing your whole origin from one country to another. You can be in fellowship with God directly. In some ways you have already been delivered >
However there may be areas of your life that in the past have been either damaged by others, or handed over to the enemy because of your own actions & choices that may require further action. There is a healing process that can take place to reverse these effects and turn those areas of your life over to God - and remove them from the enemy's influence.
Things that indicate there needs to be some spiritual healing include:
* Can't concentrate
* Fall asleep while reading the Bible
* Rude / disgusting images in your mind (especially when praying)
* Can't sleep
* Continual (or even constant) day dreams
* Vivid & wrong dreams (particularly sexual / nightmares)
* Addictions of any kind
* 'Voices' or incessant chatter in your mind (inner debates)
* Phobias of all kinds
* Continual or unexplained sicknesses / pain
* Stress / agitation / anger flare-ups (often associated with depression), figity reflexes
* Always looking for something to be wrong...
* Deep unforgiveness towards someone
Ultimately the reason for any 'strongholds' that the enemy has, is sin. Either your sin or other people's sin - the consequences can be huge, though Jesus has paid the price to free you of them!
For more on this see the deliverance heading below
EMOTIONAL
The 'onion' needs peeling!
Once the spiritual area is under way - you will find that areas of emotional healing will become apparent. You may have been aware of some of them for years - but until you tap into spiritual healing you will never experience true emotional freedom.
Depending on your past & make up - emotional healing may be going on for quite some time. It is a journey that Jesus will walk you through. There may be different levels to the same 'event' - and as you get closer to Jesus a deeper level may be apparent.
For instance I was aware immediately that I needed to connect with God who loved me - my earthly father left before I was born & so this was a huge revelation at the time. Since then I have gone through untold deeper levels of healing on this subject, especially since I know have two sons and a daughter. Each level was as powerful & exciting as the previous one - and has impacted my life & relationships at every level, both with God and others.
In the journey God has designed for you, areas of emotional healing may come through support groups, friends, church programs, Bible reading, Study, Christian healing books or even counselling.
Follow Jesus at all times as many can lead you astray. For instance - there may be the temptation to attend a psychologist or psychiatrist, but their whole foundation is at odds with what the Bible says. Be careful - there are many, many very damaging practices that will leave you worse off than before (ie yoga, meditation, chanting, white light healing etc)
Just as damaging are the huge number of people (even in some churches) that will show you how they 'avoid' their issues - by sweeping them under the carpet. This is commonly masked in terms like 'you need to forgive & forget & move on' but really means - "we don't care enough for what Jesus said, we choose not to walk as He did and we do not care enough for you, so we find it easier to pretend that everything is ok" Unfortunately many fall into this category in the western world - as we seem to believe the lies that pain is bad & anything that doesn't feel nice at the time should be avoided. This leaves people trapped & never finding freedom - and often means that the person can be a hypocrite (someone who acts like they follow God) or liar.
MENTAL
For the first part of your life (until you accepted Jesus as Lord of your life) - you mind has been filled with all kinds of trash & sin. We learn to 'deal' with things in certain ways. ie we have a hard day - we have some drugs (alcohol, illegal, coffee or otherwise) or get triggered & allow ourselves to 'escape' by watching a movie or viewing porn or whatever the case may be.
Now however you have the mind of Christ - and your mind is open spiritually to the Holy Spirit. He will plant thoughts there and communicate with you through your mind...though your mind may will need changing to line up with the truth.
This is not as easy as it sounds because your mind has been programmed with all kinds of filth & lies for years. You need to actively start to remove the lies and this takes effort and time. There are different levels to this.
Some common lies & the truth
LIE
TRUTH
[drugs/porn/money/whatever] will make me happy
Only Jesus satisfies- He is the life giving water in the desert of the world!
I am #1 - Most important
Jesus is #1 - follow Him
I need to look after me first
Look out for others above yourself
I will do what I want
Doing God's will is the only course of action that is good for me
I am no good
With Jesus you are full of His goodness - He loves and accepts you as you are!
Romans 12:1-2 I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? [2] Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
Ok in this verse the promises are clear & the way to get them is simple.
Promises = God will change you into a new person and you will know what God wants you to do...
How = Change the way you think - simple - reprogram your mind!
One way of reprogramming your mind in an easy way is to repeat over & over Psalm 23 and the Lords prayer. Once you memorize them keep doing it 10 - 20 times a day. You will start to re-program parts of your mind that you never knew were tainted - and you will start to believe the very essence of those passages. You will start to see God as your shepherd who protects, provides and you can follow. These passages are on a page here so you can print them out (use the back button to come back here!).
A more in depth set of truths are listed here for those who want something more full on!
What if I still have bad thoughts?
If we are actively reprogramming our mind and spending time reading the Bible and praying...this will happen less and less from our own thoughts. Sometimes a bad thought is not our own. Satan or any of his angels (demons) can also do this. But don't worry - God has given you a way to deal with it!
1. Take it captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
2. Confess it & ask forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
3. If you have regular bad thoughts see Deliverance (below)
PHYSICAL
Often God will heal to show you that He is real & has power. Other times He chooses to allow sickness or injury to draw you closer to Him. He has your best interest at heart. Let me explain from experience.
When I first was finding out that God was real - I was suicidal. I had a very bad back injury & the pain couldn't be stopped with any amount of drugs (illegal or scripts like prolodone & morphine). Being in the worst 1% of pain sufferers I also had an epidural that was meant to give a month or two of relief - I got literally 4 hours & then it was as painful as before. So I asked God to heal my back when I find out He was there. And within 20 seconds I was PAIN FREE. I didn't believe it & stayed in the exact position for 17 hours - thinking I had somehow found the right way to lie. But when I got up I was still pain free! That day I had more problems than you can imagine - with injuries - a bogged bus in the middle of nowhere etc etc and I almost gave away my healing. After a few months the pain started to return - but only when I wasn't spending enough time with God...even now - He uses the pain to bring me back if I am relying on myself to much. I am thankful of this - as again He has my best interests at heart. As He heals me spiritually & emotionally the physical area starts to line up & be healed to. I know that as I spend time & go through the needed pain emotionally - physically my body lines up! Sure good healthy food & lots of walking are good to - but more important is spiritual exercise and emotional honesty & healing....
So - as a quick summary - Eat well, Sleep Well, Exercise - BUT Spend time with God, Pray, Read the Bible and pursue Spiritual and Emotional healing through Jesus Christ... you WILL be healed! It will be painful - you will have to address areas of the past that are painful & scary - you will have to stop ignoring things... but it will be WELL WORTH IT!
DELIVERANCE
Deliverance is being set free from the influence of satan and/or his demons...
Jesus has the victory - He defeated satan once & for all - but you need to enforce His victory in each & every area of your life. The enemy doesn't want to let you go as he has had you trapped for so long...and he will try to keep you & get you back. He will use your weaknesses and temptation to sin to do this.
Satan is a deceiver - He will use lies (though often masked in partial truth) to trap & deceive you. You have undoubtedly already been deceived by some of his lies... From tempting you to sin, to boosting your pride to skewing your idea of God, to tempting others to abuse you - he is clever & cunning
The Good News is that Jesus defeated satan once & for all at the cross! Jesus will also help you get victory over the devil but sometimes it is hard especially if you have been into anything spiritual of the enemy. This list is huge & includes the following:
* Horoscopes
* Tarot
* Palm Reading / Crystal Ball
* Magic 8 Ball
* Ouiji Board / Dungeons & Dragons
* Witchcraft / Wiccan practices
* Satanism
* Yoga
* JW / Mormon
* Christian Science
* Hypnosis
* Imaginations of evil or sexual acts
For a more full list click here
Basically this is a VERY light look and there is MUCH more to it....
By doing any spiritual activity that is not glorifying Jesus Christ (as God and Man sin free & risen from the dead) you are allowing a dark and evil spirit into your life. It may take up residence in your mind or around your life...never to leave. You have unknowingly given it THE RIGHT TO BE THERE. What you need to do is take back that right & hand the right over to Jesus.
Go through the list of things you have done & confess each one & ask forgiveness, accept forgiveness (like you did with your sins) and then RENOUNCE and break the ties & hand over the area to Jesus.
EXAMPLE
Sex with someone joins you spiritually to them and to anyone they have been with (and so on - spiritually you could be joining with thousands of evil beings!).
Say one of your partners is called Zac:
* Lord I confess I have joined with Zac outside of marriage & outside of your will.
* Please forgive me for this wrong because Jesus has paid the huge price for this for me
* I accept your forgiveness & thankyou for Jesus dieing on the cross.
* I now renounce every tie & connection with Zac and any spirit from these acts
* I renounce any right to my life that I have given over & I hand this area of my life over to Jesus Christ.
This is a HUGE thing. As you go through you will undoubtedly discover more & more areas that you have kind of forgotten. The enemy is great at fooling you & he is spreading his foul stench everywhere. From TV shows about vampires & witchs casting spells to music that is purely satanic, to practices that seem so nice (ie yoga) but are actually designed to open you up spiritually to satan. The people who do & teach these things are often unaware of what they are doing to - as they give a temporary appearance of good.
If you need help in this area please email me - it is a big area and this can help you overcome addictions & sickness. There is WAY too much for me to write out in a web page - the above should start you on your way though. If you want to read more get SET FREE by DR Neil Anderson, Pigs in the parlor, Restoring the Christian Soul by Leanne Payne - there is some good stuff out there.
Once you go through the above it is VITAL to be filled continually with the Holy Spirit. If you don't you will end up worse than before. Daily morning noon & night BE FILLED! And there will be more stuff that comes up & you will need to deal with to remain free - stay with Jesus!
A major block to healing is Unforgiveness so read the next page!
There are some that think deliverance is not needed as it is all done instantly when you accept Jesus as Lord & Saviour. In my experience and from what I see in the Bible, this is not the case. Sure some people may be totally aware of every area of their lives, of every evil & every desire they have or have had - and willingly turn every single one of them over to God at one moment. You may be like the rest of us though - who are willing - but totally unaware of the things that need to be turned over...and some things you may not be willing to let go of - yet. But Jesus will meet you where you are at. (See John 4 - The Woman at the Well) God will help you get to a point where you can see & release everything to Him...and if you are trusting Him for your righteousness - you are saved in the meantime! This is a journey He walks with us and gradually frees us - though at times it seems like He has done every area at once!
Healing - Spiritual, Emotional, Physical and Mental
Different levels of healing are available - and all will be needed at some point. Please do not think that a quick prayer will sort everything out in 2 minutes though! Be assured that the journey God has you on ends in wholeness - there is more of this in the Relationship Section but it is vital to go through some basics right now! You are promised a place of total freedom & peace in Heaven, but you can start to walk in the promises of God today...
SPIRITUAL
This is the deepest and most important area...
As we have already read - you have now passed from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Light! Spiritually this is HUGE. It's like changing your whole origin from one country to another. You can be in fellowship with God directly. In some ways you have already been delivered >
However there may be areas of your life that in the past have been either damaged by others, or handed over to the enemy because of your own actions & choices that may require further action. There is a healing process that can take place to reverse these effects and turn those areas of your life over to God - and remove them from the enemy's influence.
Things that indicate there needs to be some spiritual healing include:
* Can't concentrate
* Fall asleep while reading the Bible
* Rude / disgusting images in your mind (especially when praying)
* Can't sleep
* Continual (or even constant) day dreams
* Vivid & wrong dreams (particularly sexual / nightmares)
* Addictions of any kind
* 'Voices' or incessant chatter in your mind (inner debates)
* Phobias of all kinds
* Continual or unexplained sicknesses / pain
* Stress / agitation / anger flare-ups (often associated with depression), figity reflexes
* Always looking for something to be wrong...
* Deep unforgiveness towards someone
Ultimately the reason for any 'strongholds' that the enemy has, is sin. Either your sin or other people's sin - the consequences can be huge, though Jesus has paid the price to free you of them!
For more on this see the deliverance heading below
EMOTIONAL
The 'onion' needs peeling!
Once the spiritual area is under way - you will find that areas of emotional healing will become apparent. You may have been aware of some of them for years - but until you tap into spiritual healing you will never experience true emotional freedom.
Depending on your past & make up - emotional healing may be going on for quite some time. It is a journey that Jesus will walk you through. There may be different levels to the same 'event' - and as you get closer to Jesus a deeper level may be apparent.
For instance I was aware immediately that I needed to connect with God who loved me - my earthly father left before I was born & so this was a huge revelation at the time. Since then I have gone through untold deeper levels of healing on this subject, especially since I know have two sons and a daughter. Each level was as powerful & exciting as the previous one - and has impacted my life & relationships at every level, both with God and others.
In the journey God has designed for you, areas of emotional healing may come through support groups, friends, church programs, Bible reading, Study, Christian healing books or even counselling.
Follow Jesus at all times as many can lead you astray. For instance - there may be the temptation to attend a psychologist or psychiatrist, but their whole foundation is at odds with what the Bible says. Be careful - there are many, many very damaging practices that will leave you worse off than before (ie yoga, meditation, chanting, white light healing etc)
Just as damaging are the huge number of people (even in some churches) that will show you how they 'avoid' their issues - by sweeping them under the carpet. This is commonly masked in terms like 'you need to forgive & forget & move on' but really means - "we don't care enough for what Jesus said, we choose not to walk as He did and we do not care enough for you, so we find it easier to pretend that everything is ok" Unfortunately many fall into this category in the western world - as we seem to believe the lies that pain is bad & anything that doesn't feel nice at the time should be avoided. This leaves people trapped & never finding freedom - and often means that the person can be a hypocrite (someone who acts like they follow God) or liar.
MENTAL
For the first part of your life (until you accepted Jesus as Lord of your life) - you mind has been filled with all kinds of trash & sin. We learn to 'deal' with things in certain ways. ie we have a hard day - we have some drugs (alcohol, illegal, coffee or otherwise) or get triggered & allow ourselves to 'escape' by watching a movie or viewing porn or whatever the case may be.
Now however you have the mind of Christ - and your mind is open spiritually to the Holy Spirit. He will plant thoughts there and communicate with you through your mind...though your mind may will need changing to line up with the truth.
This is not as easy as it sounds because your mind has been programmed with all kinds of filth & lies for years. You need to actively start to remove the lies and this takes effort and time. There are different levels to this.
Some common lies & the truth
LIE
TRUTH
[drugs/porn/money/whatever] will make me happy
Only Jesus satisfies- He is the life giving water in the desert of the world!
I am #1 - Most important
Jesus is #1 - follow Him
I need to look after me first
Look out for others above yourself
I will do what I want
Doing God's will is the only course of action that is good for me
I am no good
With Jesus you are full of His goodness - He loves and accepts you as you are!
Romans 12:1-2 I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? [2] Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
Ok in this verse the promises are clear & the way to get them is simple.
Promises = God will change you into a new person and you will know what God wants you to do...
How = Change the way you think - simple - reprogram your mind!
One way of reprogramming your mind in an easy way is to repeat over & over Psalm 23 and the Lords prayer. Once you memorize them keep doing it 10 - 20 times a day. You will start to re-program parts of your mind that you never knew were tainted - and you will start to believe the very essence of those passages. You will start to see God as your shepherd who protects, provides and you can follow. These passages are on a page here so you can print them out (use the back button to come back here!).
A more in depth set of truths are listed here for those who want something more full on!
What if I still have bad thoughts?
If we are actively reprogramming our mind and spending time reading the Bible and praying...this will happen less and less from our own thoughts. Sometimes a bad thought is not our own. Satan or any of his angels (demons) can also do this. But don't worry - God has given you a way to deal with it!
1. Take it captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
2. Confess it & ask forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
3. If you have regular bad thoughts see Deliverance (below)
PHYSICAL
Often God will heal to show you that He is real & has power. Other times He chooses to allow sickness or injury to draw you closer to Him. He has your best interest at heart. Let me explain from experience.
When I first was finding out that God was real - I was suicidal. I had a very bad back injury & the pain couldn't be stopped with any amount of drugs (illegal or scripts like prolodone & morphine). Being in the worst 1% of pain sufferers I also had an epidural that was meant to give a month or two of relief - I got literally 4 hours & then it was as painful as before. So I asked God to heal my back when I find out He was there. And within 20 seconds I was PAIN FREE. I didn't believe it & stayed in the exact position for 17 hours - thinking I had somehow found the right way to lie. But when I got up I was still pain free! That day I had more problems than you can imagine - with injuries - a bogged bus in the middle of nowhere etc etc and I almost gave away my healing. After a few months the pain started to return - but only when I wasn't spending enough time with God...even now - He uses the pain to bring me back if I am relying on myself to much. I am thankful of this - as again He has my best interests at heart. As He heals me spiritually & emotionally the physical area starts to line up & be healed to. I know that as I spend time & go through the needed pain emotionally - physically my body lines up! Sure good healthy food & lots of walking are good to - but more important is spiritual exercise and emotional honesty & healing....
So - as a quick summary - Eat well, Sleep Well, Exercise - BUT Spend time with God, Pray, Read the Bible and pursue Spiritual and Emotional healing through Jesus Christ... you WILL be healed! It will be painful - you will have to address areas of the past that are painful & scary - you will have to stop ignoring things... but it will be WELL WORTH IT!
DELIVERANCE
Deliverance is being set free from the influence of satan and/or his demons...
Jesus has the victory - He defeated satan once & for all - but you need to enforce His victory in each & every area of your life. The enemy doesn't want to let you go as he has had you trapped for so long...and he will try to keep you & get you back. He will use your weaknesses and temptation to sin to do this.
Satan is a deceiver - He will use lies (though often masked in partial truth) to trap & deceive you. You have undoubtedly already been deceived by some of his lies... From tempting you to sin, to boosting your pride to skewing your idea of God, to tempting others to abuse you - he is clever & cunning
The Good News is that Jesus defeated satan once & for all at the cross! Jesus will also help you get victory over the devil but sometimes it is hard especially if you have been into anything spiritual of the enemy. This list is huge & includes the following:
* Horoscopes
* Tarot
* Palm Reading / Crystal Ball
* Magic 8 Ball
* Ouiji Board / Dungeons & Dragons
* Witchcraft / Wiccan practices
* Satanism
* Yoga
* JW / Mormon
* Christian Science
* Hypnosis
* Imaginations of evil or sexual acts
For a more full list click here
Basically this is a VERY light look and there is MUCH more to it....
By doing any spiritual activity that is not glorifying Jesus Christ (as God and Man sin free & risen from the dead) you are allowing a dark and evil spirit into your life. It may take up residence in your mind or around your life...never to leave. You have unknowingly given it THE RIGHT TO BE THERE. What you need to do is take back that right & hand the right over to Jesus.
Go through the list of things you have done & confess each one & ask forgiveness, accept forgiveness (like you did with your sins) and then RENOUNCE and break the ties & hand over the area to Jesus.
EXAMPLE
Sex with someone joins you spiritually to them and to anyone they have been with (and so on - spiritually you could be joining with thousands of evil beings!).
Say one of your partners is called Zac:
* Lord I confess I have joined with Zac outside of marriage & outside of your will.
* Please forgive me for this wrong because Jesus has paid the huge price for this for me
* I accept your forgiveness & thankyou for Jesus dieing on the cross.
* I now renounce every tie & connection with Zac and any spirit from these acts
* I renounce any right to my life that I have given over & I hand this area of my life over to Jesus Christ.
This is a HUGE thing. As you go through you will undoubtedly discover more & more areas that you have kind of forgotten. The enemy is great at fooling you & he is spreading his foul stench everywhere. From TV shows about vampires & witchs casting spells to music that is purely satanic, to practices that seem so nice (ie yoga) but are actually designed to open you up spiritually to satan. The people who do & teach these things are often unaware of what they are doing to - as they give a temporary appearance of good.
If you need help in this area please email me - it is a big area and this can help you overcome addictions & sickness. There is WAY too much for me to write out in a web page - the above should start you on your way though. If you want to read more get SET FREE by DR Neil Anderson, Pigs in the parlor, Restoring the Christian Soul by Leanne Payne - there is some good stuff out there.
Once you go through the above it is VITAL to be filled continually with the Holy Spirit. If you don't you will end up worse than before. Daily morning noon & night BE FILLED! And there will be more stuff that comes up & you will need to deal with to remain free - stay with Jesus!
A major block to healing is Unforgiveness so read the next page!
There are some that think deliverance is not needed as it is all done instantly when you accept Jesus as Lord & Saviour. In my experience and from what I see in the Bible, this is not the case. Sure some people may be totally aware of every area of their lives, of every evil & every desire they have or have had - and willingly turn every single one of them over to God at one moment. You may be like the rest of us though - who are willing - but totally unaware of the things that need to be turned over...and some things you may not be willing to let go of - yet. But Jesus will meet you where you are at. (See John 4 - The Woman at the Well) God will help you get to a point where you can see & release everything to Him...and if you are trusting Him for your righteousness - you are saved in the meantime! This is a journey He walks with us and gradually frees us - though at times it seems like He has done every area at once!