This is an article from Jeremiah Johnson- a trusted Prophet today

 HOW JEZEBEL TRAPS LEADERS

The Jezebel spirit is a mastermind, scenting out weaknesses in leaders and striking when it finds an advantage. Often gifted individuals from outside the church will sweep in during a moment of crisis and seem to have the skills or answers that are desperately needed. Cunning and articulate, they position themselves to save the day. Beware! A snake in the grass will suddenly become a dragon. God sends people, the enemy sends people, and some people send themselves. 

These individuals might be sent by God to aid you during a time of distress, but from my personal experience, this scenario is often the way the Jezebel spirit waltzes through the open door of a local church. Lurking, it watches and waits for the moment when leadership is floundering and then volunteers to help. Whether it's leading worship, the youth group or the counseling ministry, this spirit seeks to fill gaps, but with the wrong heart and motive. This spirit has an agenda!

 

The Jezebel spirit quickly spins a web around unsuspecting church leaders, who feel like they can finally come up for air because they have more help, but over time this demon will cause spiritual asphyxiation. Its victims feel ill, suffocated, manipulated, disoriented and confused. They suffer from migraine headaches, chronic illness, unexplained fatigue and nausea. Avoid suspicion and be open to divine aid, but use discernment! 

The spirit of Jezebel will show up at the right time with the wrong motive, carrying a diabolical agenda and looking out for its own interest. Not every intuitive person who recognizes a need and volunteers to fill it can be trusted! You must build kingdom family and healthy relationships to provide accountability and weed out potential agents of destruction to avoid massive collateral damage. You are better off weak, trusting God for unmet needs, than inviting the spirit of Jezebel into your house. This demon brings false strength that slowly cripples you at the knees, making you dependent upon it for everything. Refuse treaties and truces and build covenant community!

-Jeremiah Johnson

DEPRESSION

     We need to understand what depression is and what it is NOT.  While we recommend that you acquaint yourself with the valid medical definition of depression, we do not intend to present them here.  Our focus and purpose is not medical. There are very real, medically discernable chemical factors involved in depression and we as an inner healing ministry respect and observe medical counsel, advice and prescription.  We are not doctors nor do we attempt to try to practice ANY kind of medicine without a license.... it is NOT a lack of faith to take medicine. If the Lord has the power to heal, then He has equal power to work through a medication until it is no longer needed.  You will know when you are healed and no longer needs meds. We also strongly urge and advise you to see your doctor for follow-up.

Depression is both physical and emotional and is very real.  Whether depression originated from something chemical, was induced by organic shock to the system, or originated in some purely emotional cause- it is tremendously intense with emotional realities.  Our goal is to present a Christian definition of depression and equip you without impinging on any professional medical field, to learn how to deal with it and receive healing.

The 2020 pandemic took a devasting toll on the physical and mental health of millions of people.  But the mental-health effects could prove even more enduring.  A new study published in the Lancet (a medical journal) attempts to quantify the impact of Covid-19 on mental health and wellbeing around the world.  The authors estimate that cases of depression ROSE by 53 million globally as a consequence of the pandemic, 28% above pre-pandemic levels; cases of anxiety increased by 76 million, a 26% rise.

In short, depression is a condition in which our personal spirit has died to its capacity to sustain the person fully, either emotionally or physically.  Were the death of a spirit's capacity to function completely, death would be the result. In depression, a person's spirit still sustains the body, though far less successfully than normally; it hasn't the capacity to sustain you emotionally. 

No matter how stridently duty calls, the depressive has little or no energy to perform.  They cannot feel joy. Conversations that once were refreshment become tiresome. "Ought's" and "should" impel you to make responses you can no longer feel or possess the inner drive to accomplish... JOB 6:11-13 says What strength do I have, that I should still hope?... do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

When not in depression, you may have been able to reach into inner reservoirs and call up reserve energy to make yourself feel and act.  Now the reservoir is empty. You are emotionally bankrupt.  There are no more emotional funds in your account.  There is only perplexity, guilt, despair, bleakness and blackness. 

PART 2 NEXT WEEK.

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN CHURCH #6, #7, & #8

The church has sometimes been a place where many have experienced wounds instead of healing. In fact, statistics show that a great percentage of persons who cease attending church, do so because of some type of offense or injury to their feelings that happened there. Sometimes these occur because of the insensitivity of the church; other times, people are themselves at fault for being too touchy or sensitive to misunderstandings.

In any case, it is sad that such experiences ever occur, because the church is an indispensable part of the believer's life. Not only does it provide a place to worship, serve and learn about God, but it is also a community where believers can practice love toward their brethren as the Bible requires; "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Whatever you do, don't give up on the church. God requires you to be faithful to it and to be accountable to its spiritual leaders. (See Hebrews 10:25; 13:17). If you have been hurt there, don't run away – but equip yourself with the protection of God's Word. You may not be able to stop offensive things from happening, but by applying God's principles you can stop them from hurting you. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psa 119:165 KJV).

The following steps from the book HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN CHURCH by Pastor Dale Robbins, (a personal friend of mine) can help believers protect themselves from getting hurt in a church:

6. Avoid blaming the church for personal problems (Isa. 26:3) — When you go to
church, you should try to dissociate the church from the other personal problems you deal with.  This kind of emotional distress can create “distorted perception” which may prevent you from seeing reality the same way others do. When facing personal struggles, don’t jump to conclusions over anything, because situations are probably not as severe as they seem.

7. Treat others as you wish to be treated (Matt.7:12) — Human beings tend to reflect the way they are treated. This is why Jesus gave us the Golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you.” The way that most people interact with you is as a direct result of how you interact with them. Many hurt feelings can be avoided if we will realize that people usually react to how we deal with them. Take a close examination at the way you say things, or even how much you talk.

8. Have a teachable cooperative attitude (Heb. 13:17) — The Bible teaches believers to

be cooperative and submissive to their spiritual leaders — something that’s not possible unless the believer is committed to a church and accountable to a local pastor. As long as you are a part of any church, accept that the pastor and leaders are in charge there. Consequently, God holds you accountable to respect their authority, to pray for them, and to cooperate. Always be willing to humble yourself before others. If you have a rigid, inflexible attitude in the church you will probably get hurt.

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN THE CHURCH #4 & #5

 The church has sometimes been a place where many have experienced wounds instead of healing. In fact, statistics show that a great percentage of persons who cease attending church, do so because of some type of offense or injury to their feelings that happened there. Sometimes these occur because of the insensitivity of the church; other times, people are themselves at fault for being too touchy or sensitive to misunderstandings.

In any case, it is sad that such experiences ever occur, because the church is an indispensable part of the believer's life. Not only does it provide a place to worship, serve and learn about God, but it is also a community where believers can practice love toward their brethren as the Bible requires; "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Whatever you do, don't give up on the church. God requires you to be faithful to it and to be accountable to its spiritual leaders. (See Hebrews 10:25; 13:17). If you have been hurt there, don't run away – but equip yourself with the protection of God's Word. You may not be able to stop offensive things from happening, but by applying God's principles you can stop them from hurting you. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psa 119:165 KJV).

The following steps from the book HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN CHURCH by Pastor Dale Robbins,( a personal friend of mine) can help believers protect themselves from getting hurt in a church: 4. Don’t expect any church to be perfect

4. Don’t expect any church to be perfect (Rom. 7:18-19) — As long as churches are made up of people like you and me who have imperfections, there will never be such a thing as a perfect church. Unless people understand this, they’ll have an unrealistic view of the church and will eventually become disillusioned and hurt.

5. Don’t seek to promote yourself or your own agenda (Psa. 75:5-7) — Have a humble and meek attitude like Christ (Mat. 11:29, Rom. 12:3). Pride and arrogance will set you up for a fall (Prov. 16:18). Don’t promote yourself, campaigner strive to attain an appointed or elected position. God is the one who puts persons in such positions, and unless He does it, stay away from it. Lift up the Lord in all you say and all you do.

Don’t boast or talk about yourself (John 7:18).Avoid an attitude of competition which creates conflict in unity. The philosophy of Christianity is not to try to outdo one another, but to submit to and lift up one another (Eph. 5:21).

Avoid the trap of presuming that your opinions are always divinely inspired or are indisputable. Share your suggestions and ideas with church leaders, but don’t press your opinions or personal agenda. Don’t expect to receive preferential treatment or to get your way about everything.

The Bible teaches the church to make decision in the best interest of the whole congregation, not just a certain few (Jas. 2:9). If you do things for the church or give generous offerings, do it to bring glory to God, not to bring attention to yourself or to gain influence (Col. 3:17).

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN THE "CHURCH" #3

The church has sometimes been a place where many have experienced wounds instead of healing. In fact, statistics show that a great percentage of persons who cease attending church, do so because of some type of offense or injury to their feelings that happened there. Sometimes these occur because of the insensitivity of the church; other times, people are themselves at fault for being too touchy or sensitive to misunderstandings.

In any case, it is sad that such experiences ever occur, because the church is an indispensable part of the believer's life. Not only does it provide a place to worship, serve and learn about God, but it is also a community where believers can practice love toward their brethren as the Bible requires; "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Whatever you do, don't give up on the church. God requires you to be faithful to it and to be accountable to its spiritual leaders. (See Hebrews 10:25; 13:17). If you have been hurt there, don't run away – but equip yourself with the protection of God's Word. You may not be able to stop offensive things from happening, but by applying God's principles you can stop them from hurting you. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psa 119:165 KJV).

The following steps from the book HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN CHURCH by Pastor Dale Robbins,( a personal friend of mine) can help believers protect themselves from getting hurt in a church: 

3) Focus on common ground — “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

Avoid becoming highly opinionated. Opinions are the interpretations and ideas of men, which if constantly pressed on other people, can cause division or promote sinful debates and quarrels (Rom. 1:29). Opinionated people are prone to get hurt when others disagree with them.

The Bible teaches for all Christians to “speak the same thing” so that there will be unity in the body of Christ (1 Cor. 1:10). The only way such unity is possible, is for Christians to focus on the common ground of Christ and His Word. That is, we need to “say what the Word says,” to let the Word speak for itself and not try to promote divisive opinions about it. In scripture, we see that Paul instructed Timothy to “Preach the Word,” not his opinions (2 Tim. 4:2). A preacher is intended be a delivery boy of God’s message, not a commentator of the message. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job (1 John 2:27).

Similarly, at one time the news media was required to comply with a very strict code of ethics. They were to report the facts of the news accurately without adding their opinion or commentary. However, as time has passed, news reporting has become less factual and more opinionated — corrupted with rumors and gossip rather than real information. Reporters have evolved into commentators which manipulate what people think about the news. Like reporters, preachers need to stick with the facts.

Naturally every believer has his or her own convictions about a great many things, but if you continually try to push your opinions on others, conflict will eventually emerge. Avoid controversy over scriptures which are vague and foster many interpretations — stand fast upon those common, basic truths — Jesus, His life, death and resurrection — and don’t add to what God’s Word says. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar” (Prov. 30:5-6).

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN THE "CHURCH" Week 2

 The church has sometimes been a place where many have experienced wounds instead of healing. In fact, statistics show that a great percentage of persons who cease attending church, do so because of some type of offense or injury to their feelings that happened there. Sometimes these occur because of the insensitivity of the church; other times, people are themselves at fault for being too touchy or sensitive to misunderstandings.

In any case, it is sad that such experiences ever occur, because the church is an indispensable part of the believer's life. Not only does it provide a place to worship, serve and learn about God, but it is also a community where believers can practice love toward their brethren as the Bible requires; "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Whatever you do, don't give up on the church. God requires you to be faithful to it and to be accountable to its spiritual leaders. (See Hebrews 10:25; 13:17). If you have been hurt there, don't run away – but equip yourself with the protection of God's Word. You may not be able to stop offensive things from happening, but by applying God's principles you can stop them from hurting you. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psa 119:165 KJV).

The following steps from the book HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN CHURCH by Pastor Dale Robbins,( a personal friend of mine) can help believers protect themselves from getting hurt in a church:

(2) Don’t place an absolute trust in people —   “Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD” (Jer. 17:5).

Come to terms with the fact that everyone is human and will fail you at sometime or another. Even the pastor will make mistakes. The only one you can trust entirely without fail is God.

Realizing that any human can fall short, the degree of trust we place in people must be limited and will depend on their track record. The more we get to know a person’s character and the history of their behavior, we’ll be able to determine how trustworthy they are. This is one of the reasons why the scriptures tell us to get to know our pastors and spiritual leaders — so from their godly lifestyle, we’ll be able to trust their leadership. “And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you.” (1 Thes. 5:12).

There’s a difference between “love” and “trust.” It’s possible to love and forgive someone, without placing an absolute trust in them. To illustrate this, let’s say there’s a school bus driver who has a drinking problem. One day while transporting a load of children he becomes intoxicated, wrecks the bus and kills all the children. As the lone survivor of the crash, he turns to the church to seek God’s forgiveness for this horrible act of irresponsibility. If he repents of his sin, will God forgive him? Absolutely. Should the church love and forgive this person? Of course. And what if he would then like to volunteer to drive the church bus for us? Do we trust him? Absolutely not! It would be unthinkable to put a person in the driver’s seat who has shown such recent negligence. Certainly, we love and forgive him, but because of this man’s poor track record, we could not risk the lives of our passengers. Over a long period of sobriety and safe driving, this person may be able to prove that he is again reliable or trustworthy.

Remember that love and forgiveness is granted unconditionally, but trust must be “earned.” Trust is the acquired confidence in a person’s actions. We certainly can, and should trust persons who show trustworthy behavior, but because all men have the potential for failure, we should never put an infallible sense of trust in anyone but God.

Reason #3 next week 

HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN THE "CHURCH"

 The church has sometimes been a place where many have experienced wounds instead of healing. In fact, statistics show that a great percentage of persons who cease attending church, do so because of some type of offense or injury to their feelings that happened there. Sometimes these occur because of the insensitivity of the church; other times, people are themselves at fault for being too touchy or sensitive to misunderstandings.

In any case, it is sad that such experiences ever occur, because the church is an indispensable part of the believer's life. Not only does it provide a place to worship, serve and learn about God, but it is also a community where believers can practice love toward their brethren as the Bible requires; "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Whatever you do, don't give up on the church. God requires you to be faithful to it and to be accountable to its spiritual leaders. (See Hebrews 10:25; 13:17). If you have been hurt there, don't run away – but equip yourself with the protection of God's Word. You may not be able to stop offensive things from happening, but by applying God's principles you can stop them from hurting you. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psa 119:165 KJV).

The following steps from the book HOW TO KEEP FROM GETTING HURT IN CHURCH by Pastor Dale Robbins,( a personal friend of mine) can help believers protect themselves from getting hurt in a church:

(1) Avoid developing unreasonable expectations of the church — “My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him” (Psa. 62:5).

The definition of disappointment is “the failure to attain one’s expectations.” Don’t expect things from the church or the minister that they can’t deliver, or that the Bible doesn’t teach for them to do. Many expectations have to do with preconceived “traditions” which we have come to associate with a church, perhaps from another fellowship we once attended or grew up in, etc. It’s a good idea to meet with the pastor and ask what you can expect of his ministry and the church.

Occasionally people get disappointed when they find out their church can’t supply all their earthly needs. Most ministers and churches do attempt to help people in every way they can – especially the needy during crisis and emergencies. But some people come to expect the church to meet all their material needs or pay their bills like the early church did. Unfortunately, this just isn’t possible unless everyone agrees to sell all their property and possessions and give them to the church like the early believers (Acts 4:34-35). Most churches would be blessed if everyone merely paid their tithes, however statistics show that only a small percentage of churchgoers give a full tithe regularly.

Neither is it realistic to expect the pastor to spend all his time with you, to attend every social function, or for him to show you constant attention. Instead, learn to place your expectations upon God — He will always be faithful to His promises in His Word and will never let you down.

#2 REASON NEXT WEEK