Inner (Heart) Healing and Freedom

IT'S BEEN QUITE THE JOURNEY- LOTS OF UPS AND DOWNS AND LOTS OF TEARS SHED, BUT THE BOOK IS HERE!!! PLEASE PURCHASE IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH THINGS SUCH AS STRONGHOLDS, REJECTION, UNFORGIVENESS, PTSD, ANXIETY, GENERATIONAL PATTERNS, BITTER ROOTS AND SO MUCH MORE!!!

KINDLE IS AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY, PRINT WILL BE OUT ON 10/15!!


https://a.co/d/7ErlYBC

Inner Heart Healing and Freedom

I AM SO EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE INNER HEALING AND FREEDOM TEXT BOOK IS HERE!! KINDLE IS AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY, HARD COPY WILL BE OUT ON 10/15/24.

https://a.co/d/7ErlYBC

ITS HERE!!! CHECK IT OUT!! CURRICULUM ON INNER HEALING NOW AVAILABLE!!!!

Inner (Heart) Healing & Freedom

https://a.co/d/g1ZaM4n

Coming Soon

Stay tuned-- will be doing YouTube teachings on Inner Healing this Fall. Please subscribe so you are notified when they are posted!!

Suicide Awareness Month

As many of you know, September is Suicide Awareness Month. As someone who lost a former family member to suicide, the pain is very real, especially when there are no answers as to WHY. The pain my family has been in for these last 4 months has been almost debilitating.

Every year, suicide is among the top 20 leading causes of death globally for all ages. Unfortunately, suicide is difficult to prevent, in large part because the prevalence of risk factors is high among the general population. Prevention strategies found to be effective in suicide prevention include means restriction, responsible media coverage, and general public education, as well identification methods such as screening, gatekeeper training, and primary care physician education. Although the treatment for preventing suicide is difficult, follow-up that includes pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, or both may be useful. However, prevention methods cannot be restricted to the individual. Community, social, and policy interventions will also be essential.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines suicide as the act of killing oneself. The act must be deliberately initiated and performed by the person concerned in the full knowledge, or expectation, of its fatal outcome1. Suicide is among the top 20 leading causes of death globally for all ages and every year, nearly one million people die from suicide. Worldwide, suicide ranks among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15–44 years, and the second leading cause of death in the 10–24 years age group2. The global suicide rate is 16 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants: more specifically 18 suicides per 100,000 males and 11 suicides per 100,000 females 2. Clinical studies have demonstrated that in most countries, suicide predominates in males, although there are important exceptions such as China. Of note, the suicide rate increases with age, although suicide rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries. As well, there are marked differences in suicide rates between some ethnic groups and individual countries, and also within different regions of one country.

A suicide attempt is a self-inflicted, potentially injurious behavior with a nonfatal outcome for which there is evidence (either explicit or implicit) of intent to die 34. It is estimated that for every suicide, there are 50 suicide attempts, and thus attempts are a source of significant morbidity. Moreover, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance study suggests that as many as 7% of adolescents in the United States acknowledge having attempted suicide.

Identifying individuals at imminent risk for suicidal behavior is a major challenge for clinicians. In general, suicide is hard to predict because the prevalence of risk factors is high among the population, while suicide is rare. Indeed, only a minority of those with risk factors will commit suicide. Furthermore, some of the risk factors are not specific and of those who die by suicide, some are not in any risk group. Nonetheless, up to 90% of the people who commit suicide, and a similar rate of those who attempt suicide, suffer from a psychiatric disorder (affective illnesses, drugs/alcohol abuse, psychosis or personality disorders (5, 6, 7, 8). On the other hand, among psychiatric populations, suicidal behavior is not rare and the rate of attempts among psychiatric patients ranges between 15–50% 9.

Despite the challenges in identifying those at risk for suicidal behavior, opportunities for prevention do exist. In many cases, suicidal persons have been in contact with general practitioners in the month prior to their death (10, 11, 12), although, up to 80% of them were not treated for their psychiatric condition near the time of death 13,14,15. This contact with the medical profession may afford an opportunity for intervention.

Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2012 Dec; 14(6): 624–633.

doi: 10.1007/s11920-012-0318-3

PMCID: PMC3492539

NIHMSID: NIHMS409310

PMID: 22996297

IDENTIFYING EMOTIONAL WOUNDS AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS PART II

Defense Mechanisms

Many people do not realize it, but they have defense mechanisms that are preventing their emotional wounds from healing. Holy Spirit is eager and ready to heal you, but when you do not receive it, then there is a reason /something blocking or hindering that healing from manifesting. All too often, that reason is a defense mechanism that is in place, serving as a wall or blockage which prevents or hinders the light of Christ from penetrating and healing the wound in you.

Once Satan has that “wound” in you, he wants to ensure that it does not heal. That is where he works hand in hand with fleshly defense mechanisms to keep your wound from ever healing.

What is a defense mechanism? A defense mechanism is an ungodly reaction in a person that is designed to prevent a person from further harm. It can be fear, unforgiveness, rebellion, etc. Think of it as a wall which keeps out both the bad guys along with the good guys.

Defense mechanisms are rooted in your human flesh and are not inclined to trust God. That is why a defense mechanism can cause a person to find it difficult to trust God. We would rather act upon our fears or unforgiveness to protect us, than to lay our burdens and concerns before Jesus’ feet and trust Him to take care of them. In reality, defense mechanisms are fleshly ways of dealing with and handling things that God has told us to trust Him with.

How do we recognize a defense mechanism? Be watchful for emotions which tend to “rise up” within you when you are faced with certain situations which put you at possible risk of being re-hurt in a particular area of your life. Defense mechanisms can come in a variety of forms, but the two main categories involve fear and unforgiveness. Fear is afraid of being hurt, and unforgiveness says, “I will not allow myself to be hurt.”

Unforgiveness and fear both have children. Unforgiveness is the root that leads to resentment, anger, hate, and even murder. Fear has a family all on its own, including plain old fear, worry, insecurity, dread, panic, and so forth. Fear is just as much of a defense mechanism as unforgiveness.

If you struggle with issues of anger, rebellion (blaming others), resentment (rooted in unforgiveness), and so forth, then you are up against a defense mechanism. A defense mechanism will rise up when it perceives potential harm in an area of a person’s life.

Understanding defense mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are usually there because a person (you) has been abused, hurt, etc. All these mechanisms know is hurt and pain, so they take it upon themselves to protect the person from further hurt and pain. Some people will even make a vow such as, “I will never let anybody get close to me again!” Such vows bind a person’s soul and invites demonic bondage. Demons are more than eager to work alongside defense mechanisms to create bondages to things such as anger, resentment, fear, and so forth. In such cases, the defense mechanisms need to be addressed, and the emotional damage healed. Now not only do you have a defense mechanism, but an inner vow as well.

Self-pity can cause you to actually hold onto your hurt and pain in order to gain love and acceptance from others. Self-pity can be rooted in rejection because you are attempting to find love and acceptance. Where there is self-pity, there is usually a sense of rejection from others.

Someone who has built defense mechanisms will often find it difficult to talk about certain things or receive correction about their attitude or conduct. There is often a feeling of, “Do not go there!” rise up within the person. They want to stay away from addressing the root as if it were poison.

The whole idea of defense mechanisms is to protect from further harm or pain.

Tearing down defense mechanisms

It is important to realize that defense mechanisms will attempt to put up a roadblock to outsiders, regardless of it furthering harm or the healing power of Jesus. This will prevent Jesus from even reaching the wound so that it can be healed. We must make way for God to heal the wound!

Roadblock #1: Unthankfulness. Being that defense mechanisms are there because of pain and hurt, they are generally unthankful. Thankfulness is definitely an important key to receiving healing for damaged emotions. Stop dwelling on what was done to you and all of the fleshly reasons why you are unthankful and begin to dwell upon the things which God has given you.

Roadblock #2: Blaming others (including yourself and God). Defense mechanisms are generally prone to blame yourself, others, or even God for what has happened. Blaming yourself opens you up to bondages of self-hate, self-resentment, self-unforgiveness, self-rejection, etc. Regardless of who your defense mechanism is blaming, it is enforcing a wall which is blocking your healing. It is keeping your eyes on the problem, and off of the solution (which Christ has provided). It is of the utmost importance that you accept personal responsibility for your own ungodly and hateful reactions (in your heart).

Roadblock #3: Fear. In many cases, defense mechanisms make us afraid of being hurt again, therefore we are operating out of fear. This fear will cause you to dodge situations which may expose you to further pain, rejection, and so forth. God’s Word tells you to cast all of your fears upon Him, for He cares for you (see 1 John 4:18). Not knowing the love of God will make it difficult to trust Him. It is difficult, if not impossible, to trust somebody, we do not really know who loves and cares for us. Therefore, an important key to overcoming these fears is to learn of the love of God for you and meditate on His goodness. Fear also draws you inward, which makes you dysfunctional in genuine relationship building, and can even render you useless in ministering to others.

Roadblock #4: Unforgiveness. We will deal with Unforgiveness in great depth later in this class, but the issue with unforgiveness is actually rooted in a distrust of God’s justice. When you refuse to forgive, you are afraid that nobody else (including God) is going to do anything about the wrong that was done against you, therefore you will hold onto it and see to it that the person receives justice (in their heart). You do not believe that God is going to ensure that justice happens. Forgiveness is a form of trusting God to handle the situation and bring justice. Did you know that you can actually prevent a person from receiving justice? It is true that if you fail to give Him that place, then you cannot expect Him to act on your behalf and bring justice. Romans 12:19 tells us, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. “One of the keys to living a life of forgiveness, is getting it down into your spirit that God cares for you and everything that was done and said against you and will bring justice to those who wronged you as we trust Him with those situations.

Roadblock #5: Incorrect perceptions. A particularly important key to inner healing, is the tearing down of strongholds. Strongholds are incorrect thinking patterns or perceptions that have been burned into our way of thinking. When you perceive God as a cruel, distant, and unloving taskmaster, then it makes it difficult for you to trust Him and cast your cares upon Him. When you perceive that you are dirty and have shameful failures, then you will not be confident in your relationship with God, and your faith will be severely crippled. You will draw away from Him, rather than to Him (where the flow of healing is).

A word about trust versus forgiveness: Often times, these two things are confused and misunderstood as being the same. That is not true. Extending forgiveness is always required of you (see Matthew 6:14-15) but trusting the person who has offended you is another story. Let’s say that you were raped or abused physically, mentally, or even spiritually by a church/pastor; while it is vital to forgive that person who has done this terrible thing to you, it may also be very unwise to allow ourselves to be alone with them again (thus putting you in harm's way).

While you do not have to trust others who have harmed you, you do need to trust God with every area of life. Trusting God requires a knowledge of His love. The Word tells us that perfect love casts out all fear, why? Because when you know His love, it is a cinch to trust Him with every area of your life! Another factor that hinders your ability to trust God, is not feeling confident about your relationship with Him. Many Christians are plagued with guilt, shame, and feelings of condemnation. Somehow the devil tries to make you think that your failures are greater than the Blood of Jesus, which was shed for the removal of your sins. Are you problem focused (your sin and failures) or solution focused (what Jesus did about it)? Is the Blood of Jesus, which was shed for the sins of the whole world, so weak that it cannot wipe away the failures in your life? If that is what you are thinking, then you are grossly underestimating the value and power of the Blood of Jesus!

It is also helpful to verbally confess your choice to tear down ungodly defense mechanisms:

“I now take down the ungodly walls meant to protect me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and can endure whatever is necessary that lies before me.

IDENTIFYING EMOTIONAL WOUNDS AND DEFENSE MECHANISMS

The goal of heart healing is not to forget those hurtful events or trauma, but to receive healing  for them.  Holy Spirit can and will remove the sting from it so that when you look back on a healed  wound, you see it a different way because it has been healed and is no longer painful to remember. Dr. David Seamands said in his book Healing Your Emotions, “People will continue to respond to their wounds and those  scars will manifest themselves through deep character and interpersonal flaws until they are confronted, addressed, and handed over to Jesus !! You must confront it, address it, and hand it over to Jesus!!

The first thing we need to do is identify the problem and realize the need for inner healing. Below is a list of common symptoms to look for if you believe you have an  emotional wound:

Inner rawness: there is often a sense of inner rawness and hurt that does not seem to go away.

 Irritability: it is easy to become irritable with others, even if they are not doing anything wrong!

Little or no tolerance: there is a low tolerance issue with others, where we expect and demand from  them.

Feelings always rising up: feelings of anger, hate, resentment, etc. seem to "rise up" within us at the  slightest offense from others.

Overly sensitive about an event in your past: if there are events in your past which causes you to become  sensitive or angry, or even cause you to lash out, then it is likely revealing a deep emotional wound tied in  with that event or memory.

Hard to forgive: it becomes difficult, if not impossible to love and forgive others. It can also be hard to  forgive and love yourselves. It can even be hard to forgive and love God, even though He has done  nothing wrong against you!

Hard to feel loved: it is hard to clearly see and realize the love of others and God in your life. You may  be surrounded by people who love you, but it can be difficult to fully feel and receive that love. There  seems to be a wall that blocks the flow of love into your life.

Lashing out: when there is an inner wound that has festered, it becomes easy to lash out or have sudden  outbursts of anger, hate, resentment, etc. You may find it easy to lash out at people who love you and  have done you no harm.

Feelings of anger towards God: when you are wounded, it is easy to blame God for  your troubles and hardships. This is the last thing that you want to do when seeking inner healing,  because it virtually puts a wall in your mind that can block the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Although He desires to heal your wounds, He will not override your freewill, and if you hold  hate in your heart against Him, it can block His efforts to heal your wounds.

Self-hate: many times, when you suffer hurt from past abuse, you begin to think that perhaps what  happened to us, was deserved because of something we did. This is not true. Abuse is never acceptable,  even if a child was being out of order. Parental love disciplines and corrects, but never abuses.

 

Easily frustrated: because of an inner turmoil that an inner wound cause, it is easy to become frustrated with everyday chores and responsibilities.

Escapism: as a result of inner turmoil, it is easy to want to escape or suppress reality. This can be in the  form of overeating, drinking, smoking, porn, spending binges, etc. When we indulge in escapism,  addictions can form, and open the door to spirits of addiction, which makes the addictions virtually  impossible to break.

Cutting: a person who is a cutter usually has an alter-ego inside and are holding much pain and needs to  release that pain; or they honestly feel that they deserve the pain (self-hate/religious bondage).

Retaliation urges: because of built-up hate and anger as a result of unforgiveness, if we have a  festering inner wound, we will find it easy to retaliate or snap back at those who offend us or step on our  toes.

Irresponsible behavior: inner pain has a way of consuming a person's mind, and eventually this can  take on a careless approach to life. It is hard to feel good about ourselves if we have an inner wound, and  if we do not feel good about ourselves, it will begin to show in our lifestyle.

Irrational expectations of others: we, who have been wounded, may set high expectations for those  around us. We feel that others ought to hold up unrealistic standards and are very intolerable to any  mistakes made. We find it hard to forbear (put up with) one another as the Bible commands us. (see  Colossians 3:13).

Perfectionism: a person who has an emotional wound may also be performance driven. Perhaps you feel like no matter what you did, you could never please a parent or authority figure. Later on, in life,  that “rejection wound” causes you to be a performer to the point you are never satisfied and burned out  by your efforts.

Feelings of hopelessness: This is also a common result of unresolved inner wounds. Since the love of  God is blocked in your life, it becomes difficult to see why He would love or care for you, and therefore  you become an easy target for feelings of hopelessness.

Drivenness: when you suffer from an emotional wound, it can create a sense of void in our life's  meaning, thus driving us to find meaning and purpose and happiness. This could be in the form of  college degrees, careers, financial success, etc. Instead of appreciating the person who God has made  (YOU!), we find ourselves chasing what we think will bring true happiness and purpose to our life.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) often involves  emotional wounds that were never healed. It is not a mental disorder or disease… it is a  "spiritually rooted bondage" in the person’s mind that needs to be uprooted. This is especially true with  people who have bondages to self-hate, self-resentment, self-unforgiveness, etc. basically demonic  torment brought on by a person’s bondages to fear and shame. Those affected may experience thoughts  being ‘pushed’ through their mind that they would normally never think (completely against their true  nature), or they may experience a strong pulling on their thoughts in a certain direction. They may even  hear voices inside their mind or in some other way sense that something is not right. A terrific way to  describe it, is to imagine a magnet in your mind that is pulling your thoughts a certain direction, despite  the fact that the real you hate those thoughts. It feels like you are sharing your mind with another spirit  that you totally disagree with.

Hostility towards God, self, and others: Because of bound up emotions, you tend to feel hostile  towards God, or other people in your life. This is usually rooted in a form of bitterness against God for  not preventing something from happening to you, bitterness against somebody who has wronged or  harmed you emotionally, or bitterness against yourself for failures into which you have fallen.

Do you see yourself in any of these points? Contact us to learn how to get free

Part II in 3/24/24