Anyone spiritually attacked?

[drjean]

HOPE! aye there's the rub!

We must stand and watch and wait...for our HOPE is in Jesus... and not 'just' in Jesus but awaiting his soon return.

We are encompassed by the enemy on 'every side'.... and that's because we are not the only ones who KNOW Jesus returns so very, very soon! Time is short.

Showers of blessings we need....mercy drops round us are falling but for SHOWERS we plead

 

[Southernscotty]

My wife divorced me because I am hit hard "all the time" [Her words] it was too much on her.
I have sucked up many many issues over the past couple of years and pressed on but Dad and now the family coming at me is almost like insurmountable odds.
I go to the jail or prison or even the nursing home and their "issues' jump on me. [It seems]
I pray and pray and Eph 6 all I can, I am completely sold out to the Lord, I volunteer all my ministry, I just want to preach and bring people to Jesus and that is all.
I don't understand why I am treated this way.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I think the answer(s) are in God. First I would say - it's possible to not realize what someone else is battling. Sometimes people seem calm and joyous (and are) but when you find what they are dealing with, it doesn't show through.

But more importantly - God knows each of us. In His infinite wisdom, He knows exactly how much we can bear, how to stengthen us, when to protect us. We need absolute faith in Him, and to cultivate an attitude of turning quickly to Him. And if we are in a season designed to teach us such lessons (or others), we may be pushed to our breaking point - at least those of us who can be stubborn. Or maybe it's God strengthening us. Or something else.

The enemy certainly has a plan to torture and utterly destroy us. But God has a plan to save us. And His power and wisdom is the greater.

If we can cultivate an actual appreciation for the trials we suffer, because we know that God will use them to form us for our salvation, then our faith in God can deepen and we make way to be thankful in all situations and experience a deep joy. Happiness as a fleeting emotion may not be there, but a deeply steadfast faith in God absolutely no matter what happens is a treasure beyond price. (I don't claim to have "arrived" by the way, but I'm familiar with such lessons - I was apparently a slow learner so I've had a lot of some kinds of lessons )

I agree you've been through a lot. And I wouldn't expect it to feel like climbing a ladder to ascend to spiritual summits. It has to be hard, and it can very well be your perfectly understandable emotions are making things harder on you. I'd urge you to give yourself some space and try to find rest in God. Don't hold back in talking to Him about whatever you feel.

But in the end, it's all about God and His love and how He forms us. To focus on the enemy is to diminish our experience of that. (I'm not saying that's what you are doing, but I know it's a common teaching/suggestion.)

This is just my little input. I don't know YOUR situation, so I'm not giving it as if I can tell you what's happening to you. Just some truths I have been taught that proved helpful to me in various situations and trials.

Continued prayers for you, dear brother.

 

[LoricaLady]

Scotty your concerns are legitimate and worthy of consideration and prayer. However, it seems they would best be addressed in another forum. This forum is for Christians being horrifically persecuted for their faith. Some have lost their lives, their families, their jobs, and may be in prison or hiding out in forests to escape their persecutors, and so on.

This forum is a special place for prayer and attention for those who are going through things we often can't even really imagine.

 

[drjean]

My wife divorced me because I am hit hard "all the time" [Her words] it was too much on her.
I have sucked up many many issues over the past couple of years and pressed on but Dad and now the family coming at me is almost like insurmountable odds.
I go to the jail or prison or even the nursing home and their "issues' jump on me. [It seems]
I pray and pray and Eph 6 all I can, I am completely sold out to the Lord, I volunteer all my ministry, I just want to preach and bring people to Jesus and that is all.
I don't understand why I am treated this way.

Scotty please know I am RIGHT THERE WITH YOU! I could have written much of that. I am trustee of mom's estate... and she had written 2 of my siblings out of the will/trust.... I had to write the court to block the one from taking all of mom's "stuff"... she had arranged for lawyer to get mom to turn it over to her... but God intervened in that I had talked to lawyer and explained doctors said mom didn't know who she was.... after mom's passing this one convinced another to keep sending her the keys (I had to keep changing the locks) so she could go in and take what she wanted... and the other siblings stayed out of it as if it was a chick fight... family! ? Your dad knew youre's well it appears.

You might not know the song (it's an old one) but it's a good one for now:

I don't know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from it's sunshine
For it's skies may turn to grey.

I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

Every step is getting brighter
As the golden stairs I climb;
Every burden's getting lighter,
Every cloud is silver-lined.

There the sun is always shining,
There no tear will dim the eye;
At the ending of the rainbow
Where the mountains touch the sky.

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow;
It may bring me poverty.
But the one who feeds the sparrow,
Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that is my portion
May be through the flame or flood;
But His presence goes before me
And I'm covered with His blood.

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand...

 

[~Anastasia~]

My wife divorced me because I am hit hard "all the time" [Her words] it was too much on her.
I have sucked up many many issues over the past couple of years and pressed on but Dad and now the family coming at me is almost like insurmountable odds.
I go to the jail or prison or even the nursing home and their "issues' jump on me. [It seems]
I pray and pray and Eph 6 all I can, I am completely sold out to the Lord, I volunteer all my ministry, I just want to preach and bring people to Jesus and that is all.
I don't understand why I am treated this way.

Hmmm. I almost feel bad for what I just posted since it came on the heels of this post.

I wonder ... if this can be a sort of nudge that some situations are best minimized in your life, and you might seek out other things that are of benefit? I've had it happen that way too.

 

[drjean]

ARE WE NOT PERSECUTED for being Christians? For giving our lives to ministry? There is no other reason.

We do not list all that is going on... nor should we...the fact that a few of us members here are encouraging each other in the Lord for the vitriol attacks though thinly (to some) veiled as normal human behavior because that IS what satan uses to bring us down.

If it's my participation in this thread that is making disallowed, well then, I'll be quiet.

 

[Southernscotty]

Scotty your concerns are legitimate and worthy of consideration and prayer. However, it seems they would best be addressed in another forum. This forum is for Christians being horrifically persecuted for their faith. Some have lost their lives, their families, their jobs, and may be in prison or hiding out in forests to escape their persecutors, and so on.

This forum is a special place for prayer and attention for those who are going through things we often can't even really imagine.

Ok sorry friend. Mods can close this

 

[~Anastasia~]

Ok sorry friend. Mods can close this

Or better yet just move it.

ETA I have requested a move. I don't want to see you get shut down.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Sometimes it just seems hard when you start to get excited because God has used you to lead a couple of people to Him and the ministry is going great, People are hungry for the Word and then boom, You get slammed with immense hardship.
As stated before I have a few bad days and then it seems someone will accept Jesus and the pain and all is gone.
But lately I have been just utterly slammed and I fight tooth and nail, I reject it and rebuke it and tell everyone that I am doing ok, So as to keep ministering to them, I do not want anyone else to feel burdened or weighed down because I know they have their problems as well, so I keep on
but when I am alone it presses down so hard at times that it is like being in a vice.
I must be doing something wrong as I can't pull myself up and fight as well as usual, I feel utterly drained and weak and beaten. Why will satan not flee?
Yet I know in reality that I am strong through Jesus and He will see me through all this, I am His and I know He sees my suffering and knows my heart so it has to be strengthening as another minister prophesied over me

....maybe keep in mind that some of the "felt hardship" that prevents us from having the joy we'd like to have comes as a part of simply being human. Of course, the 'world' and the Devil like to take advantage of our humanness, but just realize that sometimes what one feels comes because we are who we are, both genetically and culturally, and we'll have some rough days, Devil or no Devil.

 

[Southernscotty]

Or better yet just move it.

ETA I have requested a move. I don't want to see you get shut down.

It is ok and thank you, I am just ranting anyway, It isn't important to keep it going or anything, I was just curious if others might show me what I am doing wrong or if I am doing something right.
Thank guys and God bless :]

 

[Blade]

We all have trials in some way or fashion. The bible is GODS WORD. Its alive...it can't get old.. What God the great I AM spoke is for NOW as it was the moment He spoke it..which was now. Theres not time or space where God is. He spoke promises to them... KNOWING you would read it today.. for which He spoke it. We read JOHN 3:16 and its a promise. Well.. why not BELIEVE the rest? God can not go against our will. How we SPEAK good negative whatever effects how HE moves in our lives.

Take the classic FEAR... I can go around say I am always scared. If I am like my Father ..what do you think happens when I keep saying "I am always scared"? Faith works both ways. So no matter how I FEEL or what I SEE or hear... I speak His word.. NO.. God has not given me the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. Thus.. faith comes. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I use to have bad dreams.. so I read Psa 4 every night. Parts of those dream that were BAD lol..it was so strange.. the ONLY the bad parts became blurry.. you could not see the bad. Then gone for good.

We all have trials. There are some trials.. that are NOT from God that we do not have to take. For ALL not some but ALL good things come from God. There is no BAD thing GOD puts on ME that came from Him. We have a enemy that never sleeps that is out there to kill steal and destroy us. Yet God through Christ said Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And greater is He that is in YOU than he thats in the world.

So if Christ only spoke what the Father said.. then what ever YOU ask Him in Jesus name He will do it.. what ever you desire when you pray believe you receive it and you will have it. If you know the Father hears you when you pray then you know you have the petitions you asked for. And HIS WILL? His WILL IS HIS WORD! When we ask according to His WILL..His WILL is HIS WORD. Oh..but if we DOUBT let not that man think he will get anything from God.

Not talking about GETTING Things from God. But that your Father is NOT DEAF. He hears you. Look out in to the world what do you see? Did you know the Father is doing more GOOD then ALL the evil? Do we see it look for it? Isa 41:10..for you "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isa 41:10.. we read it and think what? Its from the OLD Testament? OLD ..we use it the wrong way. Gods words are NEVER old. So did He speak it for them only or did this GOD KNOW YOU would need it.. need to HEAR your Father talk to YOU...JUST YOU. He made ALL JUST FOR YOU! He can..HE IS GOD. He did ALL of this for EACH of us.. You are not just ONE in a trillion. He sees JUST YOU.. Hears just you...yet since He is GOD He does this for ALL of HIS own. I dont know how.. I just know He does.

So... rejoice for now you KNOW the ENEMY has been trying to get a foot hold...but can't. I LOVE this old song.. something GOOD IS GOING to happen to you..Your FATHER IS GOD. There are things in this world we do NOT have to recieve. Find what your FATHER said.. and quote Him.. remind HIM of what HE spoke.. those are HIS words not mine. And when you talk to Him.. give Him the same respect we giver others.. take time to LISTEN. He really truly talks...loves to..more then us.. we just wont listen.. all of this.. your free choice.. if you dont agree praise God forgive me ask Him

 

[Southernscotty]

We all have trials in some way or fashion. The bible is GODS WORD. Its alive...it can't get old.. What God the great I AM spoke is for NOW as it was the moment He spoke it..which was now. Theres not time or space where God is. He spoke promises to them... KNOWING you would read it today.. for which He spoke it. We read JOHN 3:16 and its a promise. Well.. why not BELIEVE the rest? God can not go against our will. How we SPEAK good negative whatever effects how HE moves in our lives.

Take the classic FEAR... I can go around say I am always scared. If I am like my Father ..what do you think happens when I keep saying "I am always scared"? Faith works both ways. So no matter how I FEEL or what I SEE or hear... I speak His word.. NO.. God has not given me the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind. Thus.. faith comes. For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I use to have bad dreams.. so I read Psa 4 every night. Parts of those dream that were BAD lol..it was so strange.. the ONLY the bad parts became blurry.. you could not see the bad. Then gone for good.

We all have trials. There are some trials.. that are NOT from God that we do not have to take. For ALL not some but ALL good things come from God. There is no BAD thing GOD puts on ME that came from Him. We have a enemy that never sleeps that is out there to kill steal and destroy us. Yet God through Christ said Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And greater is He that is in YOU than he thats in the world.

So if Christ only spoke what the Father said.. then what ever YOU ask Him in Jesus name He will do it.. what ever you desire when you pray believe you receive it and you will have it. If you know the Father hears you when you pray then you know you have the petitions you asked for. And HIS WILL? His WILL IS HIS WORD! When we ask according to His WILL..His WILL is HIS WORD. Oh..but if we DOUBT let not that man think he will get anything from God.

Not talking about GETTING Things from God. But that your Father is NOT DEAF. He hears you. Look out in to the world what do you see? Did you know the Father is doing more GOOD then ALL the evil? Do we see it look for it? Isa 41:10..for you "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isa 41:10.. we read it and think what? Its from the OLD Testament? OLD ..we use it the wrong way. Gods words are NEVER old. So did He speak it for them only or did this GOD KNOW YOU would need it.. need to HEAR your Father talk to YOU...JUST YOU. He made ALL JUST FOR YOU! He can..HE IS GOD. He did ALL of this for EACH of us.. You are not just ONE in a trillion. He sees JUST YOU.. Hears just you...yet since He is GOD He does this for ALL of HIS own. I dont know how.. I just know He does.

So... rejoice for now you KNOW the ENEMY has been trying to get a foot hold...but can't. I LOVE this old song.. something GOOD IS GOING to happen to you..Your FATHER IS GOD. There are things in this world we do NOT have to recieve. Find what your FATHER said.. and quote Him.. remind HIM of what HE spoke.. those are HIS words not mine. And when you talk to Him.. give Him the same respect we giver others.. take time to LISTEN. He really truly talks...loves to..more then us.. we just wont listen.. all of this.. your free choice.. if you dont agree praise God forgive me ask Him

Bless you and thank you Brother :] I am wounded, But I am not dead, Think you for this and I shall keep speaking positive tivity and truth into matters.

 

[drjean]

Paul included in his list of persecutions shipwrecks and betrayals. We need to be aware of the wiles of the devil...if it ain't God, it's satan... he is the ruler of darkness.... he is the root of all persecutions... 'just daily living experiences' is not what a Christian has.

 

[JAM2b]

Scotty, do you have anyone in person you can vent to and is a good listener, as in just listens and hears you without being distracted by what to say to you or how to minister, no judgement, no advice, no "me too"? Sometimes we need a face to face encounter with someone who just hears us and cares. It won't solve things, but it might relieve you of some of your emotional burden.

 

[dqhall]

I see the back row christians that are true to church every Sunday and Wed but never seem to have any "trials" or problems of any kind.
Soooooo I am etheir doing something really good, Or something really bad because I have been hit hard the last two years.. lol
It seems if I look at it, It breaks, If I speak to it, It rebells, If I love it it leaves. Arrrggghhh

I believe this is spiritual warfare and if it is, Then why are "all" the others not getting this as well? I know those of us who are and many who never have been "hit"

This takes me back to my post about that place of perfection and I think we all pretty much agree that our righteousness comes from and through Jesus Christ and nothing of us..
So now is there a place that James 4:7 really ever happens?
There has to be or else it wouldn't be in the bible, So WHY can't I seem to get there??? lol

My mom has dementia and is wheel chair bound. My dad limped about as he is obese and has type II diabetes with nerve damage to his feet. He is in his 80's and is starting to suffer some loss of memory. He took a handful of pills in the morning. He fed my mom at the breakfast table. I am saddened as I was not able to convince him to go on a weight loss diet. I am sad as I can not heal them.

He flew with a tactical unit over North Vietnam. Some of his group did not make it home alive. Warfare has unintended consequences. I am skeptical about spiritual warfare. It sounds like a DOD program. Dad worked in the military and for defense corporations until he was 71. He said he was going to eat what he wants and is going to die. His friends have been dying.

He recently encouraged me to continue Christian activities. He told me Jesus taught people to help each other.

I am sad as I cannot heal my parents. Death will come whether one eats much or little. This house of flesh I live in cannot last many decades.

 

[Martyr's Crown]

My wife divorced me because I am hit hard "all the time" [Her words] it was too much on her.
I have sucked up many many issues over the past couple of years and pressed on but Dad and now the family coming at me is almost like insurmountable odds.
I go to the jail or prison or even the nursing home and their "issues' jump on me. [It seems]
I pray and pray and Eph 6 all I can, I am completely sold out to the Lord, I volunteer all my ministry, I just want to preach and bring people to Jesus and that is all.
I don't understand why I am treated this way.

(Look at the part I have lined under in colour from your posted quote above)

This is a reason for the enemy to find you threatening! By preaching the gospel to people and bringing them to salvation in Jesus Christ, as well as praying, imagine everything this is 'causing in the spiritual realm of daily battles?

When you are getting attacked by the enemy, be sure of that you are most likely doing something right. Or else why would you be such a threat?!

When you are a servant of the Lord, you are a BIG threat to the enemy! Something it seems like you are, one who wishes to serve the Lord your God with full devotion to Him.

The prophets of God didn't have it really easy either and were seldom popular, yet they remained faithful to God and continued trusting in Him as well as obeying Him, and doing or saying what He wanted for them to say and do.

Much Love in Christ Jesus!

 

[drjean]

Illness results from the devil's FIRST persecution in the garden! We have not the bodies God intended.
Paul wrote often of the flesh being a bad habit...that it hadn't died and been reborn yet...only our Spirits and with that the ability to renew our souls (minds, wills) and to "have the mind of Christ". Paul attributed his thorn in the flesh to satan...

I've said this before... we get into trouble when we begin to compare.... my trials may seem trivial to another believer, and overwhelming to still another...and their trials may seem easy to me, but some more than I can handle.

Illness and disease is all part of the devil's persecution...and often how it comes about as well.

IMO it's very important not to judge/ compare. I have no idea what else another has experienced, nor does anyone know my full back story...but I will share it is full of persecution!

This doesn't mean one is more important or more serious than the other; it doesn't mean one is better than the other... it just means we're just in different places on the road.

 

[Emli]

I'll add something from my experiences.

I have been attacked constantly since I got saved, because I keep my eyes on Christ. I've been attacked by Satan and his demons, and by people, non-Christians and Christians alike. And those attacks have only ever stopped if I've given in to sin or worldliness, and then gotten worse as I've surrendered to Christ again. Satan wants to keep people in bondage, and we are bringing people out of that bondage. Opening the eyes of the blind, breaking strongholds of lies, bringing light to a dark world, and we are preaching the name of Jesus which is the name that will crush the serpent wherever we go.

Ever since God put me into ministry and I at the same time started speaking God's Truth (the true Gospel) without fear to anyone who would listen, the battle got worse and worse. This seems to happen to anyone who is completely surrendering to God, but not to those who are preaching a false gospel or a half gospel, or are just church-goers who aren't really living for God at all.

There are two kinds of Christians who never gets attacked. 1. Those who are asleep spiritually. 2. The double-minded, as Dave G mentioned. Because they aren't walking in the light, but holding on to darkness. And the devil has a foothold in them and in their lives, as everyone who sins belongs to the devil. He won't attack them as he attacks you and me. Why would he? These categories of people are the ones who are the virgins without oil and the goats that Jesus never knew. They aren't surrendered to the Holy Spirit. They will be attacked once they start to come out of darkness, as the devil wants to keep them, and trials will come to them as well, but not if they stay in sin, rebellion, worldly comfort or in spiritual blindness.

Of course there are also those who are going through times of peace and rest. But if you talk to them, they will speak about their own warfare, and they will support you.

God wants to refine you. He has put a fire in your heart and He huge plans to use that fire. You are His light to this world, and the devil wants to extinguish that light. He can't, because that Light is Jesus. But God can let him try, and that fight will only add fuel to the fire. As you keep having your eyes opened to how dark and evil this world is, you will be more and more eager to spread the Gospel, and God will empower you to do so, more and more as the battle keeps raging. Do not ever believe that you are doing something wrong when you are getting attacked. It means that God is trusting you with more and more each day. Never falls for the lies that say that as a Christian we are protected, and if the devil attacks, that means God is angry because you've sinned. It could be, and we all give place to sin from time to time, and we may need chastisement to bring us back to repentance, but then God will also convict you for it. God uses trials and battles to make us stronger in Him, to increase our faith and dependance on Him, but also to increase our devotion to Jesus Christ and His Gospel. He is opening your eyes to the spiritual reality that is controlling the people living in darkness, so you will be able to relate to them much better as you minister to them. Paul knew what was going on, and so should we. But not everyone is all in for God like you are.

Keep pressing forward! It will all make sense one day!

 

[Dave G.]

I'll add something from my experiences.

I have been attacked constantly since I got saved, because I keep my eyes on Christ. I've been attacked by Satan and his demons, and by people, non-Christians and Christians alike. And those attacks have only ever stopped if I've given in to sin or worldliness, and then gotten worse as I've surrendered to Christ again. Satan wants to keep people in bondage, and we are bringing people out of that bondage. Opening the eyes of the blind, breaking strongholds of lies, bringing light to a dark world, and we are preaching the name of Jesus which is the name that will crush the serpent wherever we go.

Ever since God put me into ministry and I at the same time started speaking God's Truth (the true Gospel) without fear to anyone who would listen, the battle got worse and worse. This seems to happen to anyone who is completely surrendering to God, but not to those who are preaching a false gospel or a half gospel, or are just church-goers who aren't really living for God at all.

There are two kinds of Christians who never gets attacked. 1. Those who are asleep spiritually. 2. The double-minded, as Dave G mentioned. Because they aren't walking in the light, but holding on to darkness. And the devil has a foothold in them and in their lives, as everyone who sins belongs to the devil. He won't attack them as he attacks you and me. Why would he? These categories of people are the ones who are the virgins without oil and the goats that Jesus never knew. They aren't surrendered to the Holy Spirit. They will be attacked once they start to come out of darkness, as the devil wants to keep them, and trials will come to them as well, but not if they stay in sin, rebellion, worldly comfort or in spiritual blindness.

Of course there are also those who are going through times of peace and rest. But if you talk to them, they will speak about their own warfare, and they will support you.

God wants to refine you. He has put a fire in your heart and He huge plans to use that fire. You are His light to this world, and the devil wants to extinguish that light. He can't, because that Light is Jesus. But God can let him try, and that fight will only add fuel to the fire. As you keep having your eyes opened to how dark and evil this world is, you will be more and more eager to spread the Gospel, and God will empower you to do so, more and more as the battle keeps raging. Do not ever believe that you are doing something wrong when you are getting attacked. It means that God is trusting you with more and more each day. Never falls for the lies that say that as a Christian we are protected, and if the devil attacks, that means God is angry because you've sinned. It could be, and we all give place to sin from time to time, and we may need chastisement to bring us back to repentance, but then God will also convict you for it. God uses trials and battles to make us stronger in Him, to increase our faith and dependance on Him, but also to increase our devotion to Jesus Christ and His Gospel. He is opening your eyes to the spiritual reality that is controlling the people living in darkness, so you will be able to relate to them much better as you minister to them. Paul knew what was going on, and so should we. But not everyone is all in for God like you are.

Keep pressing forward! It will all make sense one day!

Emli that was an awesome word ! Spot on.