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Spiritual Battles

May 22, 2023 No Comments

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on fighting spiritual battles, but I do have knowledge and experience on how to fight in Satan’s battlefield.

Ephesians 6:12 New American Bible (Revised Edition)

According to Ephesians. 6:12 we are fighting an intangible spirit, one that is ruled by darkness. Satan is the ruler of all darkness. Once this dark spirit penetrates the soul of a loved one, we must go into the battlefield on their behalf.

Evil spirits are always waiting for an open door. Any type of addiction, especially pornography and drugs, will swing the door wide open to darkness. These are a few other examples of how the Enemy sneaks in: curses, witchcraft, crystals, astrology, tarot card readers, fortune tellers, evil eye and Yoga. Once the door is opened, the Enemy brings a legion of spirits to take over that person’s mind, spirit and soul.

The word “Legion” is mentioned in the Bible several times; it is associated with demons.

When a door is opened to the Evil One, he brings other demons to torment you. Jesus counseled his disciples that it would take more than prayer to rid a person of these demons. It takes fasting and going into warfare. (Mat 17:21).

The Mind

The Enemy is cunning, and knows when to comfortably move in. With a welcome mat and an open door, he makes himself at home. He starts his dirty work by convincing your loved ones that a little porn never hurt anyone, or that they can use drugs occasionally, assuring them that they are in control. They are never in control of an addiction! It controls them. Once they’re sold out, and immersed in the sin, they continue to lie to themselves that all is well.

One fundamental element to recognize a dark spirit is when a person lies. We must all remember who the father of lies is: Satan himself! When your loved ones’ lying becomes habitual, their minds no longer belong to them. They will eventually believe the lie, so much so, that they’ve become a master of lies. Darkness has cast a shadow over their thoughts, and their lives no longer belongs to them.

We all have a free spirit; that is what God willed for us. The Lord loves us and wants to continually guide us into the light. The job of the Enemy is to keep you blinded, so he can control you.

The Spirit

Our spirits are meant to be under the subjection of the Holy Spirit. When sin enters, confusion follows; your spirit is no longer yielded to the obedience of God. In order to serve God, your spirit must remain pure. For this reason the Enemy loves to attack our spirits, especially those who make a difference in God’s Kingdom.

I’m grown in the Lord enough to recognize how the Enemy comes to harass me. This usually happens when I’m tired or doing God’s work. The Enemy will speak condescending words to me, “Why do you bother to write this Blog? No one reads it.” Or “You think you’re so holy .” I can get into a rut by listening to Satan’s negative words or I can tell him to shut up. If you’re weak in spirit or too tired to fight the battle, this will turn into depression. It has happened to me many times.

The Soul

The Enemy is after our souls. That is why so many musicians are famous – they sold their souls to the Devil. Katy Perry, Bob Dylan and Snoop Dog, to name a few, have come out publicly stating that they sold their souls to the Devil.

According to exorcist Fr. Chad Ripperger, people become possessed through mortal sin. He added that one of the more common ways was through pornography. Anything having to do with the sin of pornography is from the pit of hell. This sin is running rampant, taking over the internet and causing many to lose their souls.

If your loved ones are caught up in this sin, you will definitely have to battle. The best way to start is by meditating on the Word of God. Ephesians 6:13-17 teaches us how to prepare to fight the demons.

Jesus is our breastplate, our shield and our protection in all our spiritual battles. When the flaming arrows come at us, our faith will keep us from injury. With so many demons unleashed on earth, we must be ready to take our Christian stand against the Evil One.

My Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, Be our defender and safeguard when we come against demonic spirits. Cover us with Your precious blood as we battle for our loved ones who are hurting because they have fallen away from Your light. Increase us in faith to go into the battlefield to claim what is rightfully ours. I call on all saints, especially Saint Michael, to stand in the gap (Ez 22:30) for us when we become too weak to fight. Lord, lead us to victory. Amen.

My Heart of the Matter

The Joy Of The Lord

May 15, 2023 No Comments

My joy: Will, Lucas, me, Jacob and Maddie

The joy of the Lord is free and can be experienced through trials and joyful times of your life. The key to this joy has never changed: your relationship with God.

Patience, for me, is a challenge. I hate to wait for anything. But praying has taught me to become more patient. When it’s in God’s hands, He will be the one to lead me out of the storm. Life’s storms have become darker, and the Enemy is out to destroy families. We must remain steadfast in prayer and patiently wait on the Lord.

The definition of patience:

Patience

noun

1. The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.

I am a work in progress. On my way to sainthood, I stumble constantly because of complaints and irritations. It will be a long journey for me!

Kindness

Kindness is a matter of the heart; in order to be kind, you must have a pure heart. Kindness is an action that does not desire reciprocation. It comes naturally, encompassing thoughtfulness. I recently went to lunch with my friend Helen. When I ordered tea, she knew that this particular restaurant did not carry the sweetener that I use; so when the tea arrived, Helen handed me packages of the brand that I use. Her kind gesture made my heart glad.

Generosity

You give until you have no more. This is what the widow did in 1 Kings 17:14; she gave everything she had. What did she get in return? Her sons life and she never went hungry. Even people who have little give because they trust that God will supply. A truly generous person never worries about money, food or clothing because they understand how God provides.

Faithfulness

Faith is trusting God even if it takes a lifetime. That is what St. Monica did; she never once gave up believing that her loved ones would one day serve God. After sixteen years of prayer for her abusive husband and unkind mother-in-law, St. Monica experienced the joy of her answered prayers. Both her husband and mother-in-law were baptized into the Christian faith. Her wayward son Augustine, however, would take a lifetime of prayer. She never gave up on St. Augustine, who became one of the greatest theologians and a Doctor of the Church.

Gentleness

My cat Prudie has a kidney disorder. Both Mike and I are gently caring for her. When she wakes up at 3 a.m. I get up to make sure she has plenty of fresh water to drink. Mike made her a comfortable place to sleep in his office. The way we treat our pets in these situations makes us aware of how we would like to be treated in our lives as we age.

My sister Norma cared for our mother in a gentle, loving manner. I could never have stepped into that role, but my sister felt called to do this. From her loving experience as our mother’s caregiver, Norma now works for an assisted living facility in Arizona. The Lord was training her for her new career.

Self-Control

There are many aspects to self-control. I understand the most important one: to control my tongue. The many times I’d wish to tell someone what I was truly thinking, my self-control kicked in to automatic and my tongue was muffled into silence. This is a lesson of spiritual, maturity and it took me a long time to discern that it was part of my growth.

I have little self-control when it comes to shopping; please pray for me!

Using Our God-Given Tools

God gave us The fruits of the spirit to help us live a spiritual life. If you are complaining, putting others down because they have hurt you, where has it gotten you? If you are this person, do not be surprised when you feel isolated. No one wants to be around a toxic person. Pray for God to get you out of this negative talk; only then will you be able to experience the joy of the Lord.

My prayer

Lord, I pray for those who are stuck in their self-pity believing that they are right. There is so much You have in store for them if they would surrender all their hurts to You. Open their hearts to love and move mightily in their lives. Amen.

My Heart of the Matter

God Answers Every Prayer

May 8, 2023 No Comments

My prayers are efficacious for many, but lately I have added my own spiritual needs. In doing this, many revelations have come to pass. It’s been almost six years since my hammer toe surgery; so after ruining several pairs of shoes and cursing the doctor who caused my botched toe surgery, I had succumbed to the notion that this was my lot in life.

Tripping and Falling

My right foot was a mess because it no longer functioned properly. When I was referred to foot therapy I thought for sure this would improve my walking. It did not. As time passed, the problem worsened because I was compensating for the botched toe surgery. The tripping and falling continued and my right shoe would wear out much faster than the left.

A few Christmases ago Sonja decided that I needed special tennis shoes to help me avoid my imminent falls. I tried the shoes, but my right foot felt incarcerated. You see, I, on my own, made allowances to protect myself from falling. One of the most distressing decisions training my toes to curl under to prevent a fall. This further complicated my condition because this added a limp to my walk.

Walking is my favorite exercise and I was not giving this up. Since I believed the tennis shoes were the cause of my problem, I thought purchasing the most unfashionable Ecco sandals would solve the world’s foot problems. They were wonderful because even though sometimes I’d trip, these shoes were safer because the strap wrapped securely around my toes, forcing them to become somewhat normal. When winter rolled around, I’d add socks to the sandals, which made my feet look as if I was living in a third world country. I am on my third pair of these shoes. Thank the good Lord that style and colors have been added to the comfortable shoes.

Barefoot Epiphany

I could never walk barefoot because this would create a bigger impediment: the toes on my right foot would immediately go into the protective mode of curling under like a claw. The other night I had forgotten to lock the door to the laundry room. Mike was in a deep slumber and I was too tired to get my slippers, so for the first time in years I walked barefoot. Something very unusual happened: I looked down at my feet and felt a strong urge and heard an inner voice saying, “Follow the lead of your left foot.” “What?” I questioned this voice but again I heard, “Follow the lead of your left foot.” I did this, and for those few minutes that it took to walk down stairs and up again, all of my toes were in perfect harmony!

The following morning I thought that it was a dream, but when I started walking barefoot I clearly noticed that my right foot was in sync with my left foot. I quickly shared the news with Mike, he replied, “So it was all in your head all along?”

All In My Head?

Did I create this deformity in my mind? That very well may be the case because after giving up on foot therapy, and believing it was a botched surgery, that is the logical assumption. As days have passed, clearly the foot problem has improved by about 50%. The only reason it’s not at 100% is because sometimes my foot will go the way I trained it. Walking barefoot has helped tremendously, but when I wear shoes my foot has the tendency to revert to the old habit. I’m trusting God for a total healing.

Answered Prayer

Why am I writing about something so trivial? Because I want to relay a very profound and important message: God is in the healing business, and we need to trust Him for all of our needs. I did not think this matter was important enough for God to answer my prayer. I created this conundrum. In spite of all the complaining, with every missed fall I failed to turn this problem over to our Heavenly Father.

Our parish has several steps to the altar, so as a Eucharistic Minister, on a daily basis, it is necessary to walk up and down these steps. After experiencing many near-tripping incidents, I started to pray: “Lord, guide my every step.” This was the first indication of my healing and recognizing that God’s hand was on this situation all along. But how did I miss the mark by not realizing this sooner?

Missing The Mark

There were three reasons why I missed my healing:

1. Complaining superseded prayer;

2. Not surrendering the problem to God sooner; and

3. Repeating to myself and to others that it was caused by the botched surgery.

All three of these reasons led to defeat. Once you’re defeated the battle is over. I forgot that the battle belongs to the Lord!

At one time or another we will all experience spiritual battles. Any well trained soldier knows that you cannot go into the battlefield without being prepared. When repeating words of defeat, you’ve set yourself up for failure. I was like the 12 scouts in the Book of Numbers (Num 13:33; Num 14:2-4) “Why did I get this surgery? I was better off without it!” The Israelites wanted to appoint a new leader to lead them back to Egypt instead of receiving the blessing God had for them in the Promised Land. I was doing the same thing by declaring defeat before the blessing.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for allowing me to enter into the Promised Land. I repent of all the negative self-talk about my foot surgery. Lord, I pray for all who are blaming others for their mishaps, including myself. I pray for all those who are in the midst of their battles fighting cancer and other serious medical diseases. Jesus, be at their side and remove any fear. Lead them to the Promised Land of healing. Amen.