Tag: Fear

Lies We Believe

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Twisting the Truth

Satan is the father of lies. John 8:44, TPT reads, “You are the offspring of your father, the devil, and you serve your father very well, passionately carrying out his desires. He’s been a murderer right from the start! He never stood with the One who is the true Prince, for he’s full of nothing but lies — lying is his native tongue. He is a master of deception and the father of lies!” A lie is defined as “an intentionally false statement.” One of the most substantial deceptions the devil pulls is to use the truth to embed his lies. He buries lies inside of truths, so we miss them. Some say he uses a 90/10 tactic, where 90 percent of what is said is truth and 10 percent is a lie. Satan is far more deceitful than we can imagine.

Satan works to twist the truth about God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit in order to keep us away from salvation and intimate relationship with them. He has been doing this for generations going back to Adam and Eve. He attacks us spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. To take it a step further, he teaches us to attack ourselves. We have become proficient at various forms of self-sabotage thanks to his efforts.

Satan with our permission, consciously or unconsciously, has infiltrated a multitude of areas in our lives. We have agreed with him in twisting the truth, and we are suffering the consequences. Jesus said in John 8:32, TPT, “For if you embrace the truth, it will release more freedom into your lives.” We usually know this verse as, “The truth shall set you free” from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. This verse is huge. When we seek out the truth, the lies fall away without manifesting in our lives.

We must focus on truth. The verse above doesn’t say “embrace the lies” it says to “embrace the truth.” If we concentrate on the lies, we are setting ourselves up for failure. We are giving ourselves thoughts that are negative seeds that will grow. Scripture says we reap what we sow, so it’s important to sow positivity in the present moment. Being positive in the now moment creates a positive future. Fixate on truth. Read Scripture to understand what the truth really is and seek the freedom it promises.

Freedom is only necessary when there’s bondage in our lives through sin and death. And it’s safe to say that we all need more freedom. Why sin and death? Because sin is anything that is disobedient, malevolent, evil, unjust, unrighteous, unholy, etc. And the Bible is clear about sin leading only to death. Death is the last thing that Jesus conquered by His own death and resurrection (Romans 8:34).

There are many ways that we are enslaved emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Emotionally refers to feelings that are fleeting and not who we are, and mentally refers to our thoughts and thinking processes. Physically we are captive through illness, disease, stress, anxiety, and the like.

Spiritual bondage refers to our spirit, and its interaction with the Spirit of God, and with other spiritual beings in the spiritual realm.

Below is a tiny list of the ways we can be in bondage to sin and death in our lives. They can refer to lack in all things, not just with finances, self-image, relationships, or other areas of our lives. They can attract negativity and abuse in one or more ways. They can be inflicted upon us by the devil, ourselves, or others. They can be our personality and/or character flaws or shortcomings. Wherever they originate, they are destructive and dangerous, rather than lifegiving and wholesome. Spend some time researching these issues for a better understanding of what they mean to our salvation.

  • Poverty Mentality
  • Victim Mentality
  • Rejection
  • Abandonment
  • Fear of Intimacy
  • Worthiness
  • Illness & Disease
  • Prideful/Egotistic
  • Envy/Jealousy
  • Lack of Identity
  • Low Self-Esteem/Image
  • Vengeful
  • Generational Sin/Curses
  • Dishonesty
  • Abuse of Any Kind
  • Disobedience
  • Ambivalence
  • Fear of Man

A few of the greatest sin symptoms are fear, pain, shame, and guilt. It doesn’t matter whether the attack is coming from someone or something else, or it’s coming from self, these are detrimental to living life to the fullest. When we sin, and we have a conscience, we begin to feel emotional pain, shame, and guilt. We know all too well how to shame ourselves and feel guilty for what we’ve done. This causes emotional pain that can become physical pain. This is how we contribute to making ourselves sick. And it all starts with fear.

Fear is an insidious thing that the devil has taught humans to trust ever since Eve took a bite of that fruit. She was tempted by allowing herself to be convinced that she wasn’t good enough or worthy to eat fruit from that tree. She became afraid she wasn’t enough, and that God was keeping something from her. Today, many generations later, that fear is still present in us. The world reminds us of this on a daily basis.

We are affected by fear so much that we have lost our innocence and childlike ability to trust God. We entertain doubt and unbelief as a result, which runs rampant in our societies and cultures. Our movies are more violent, sex is more casual and overt, and language is more disrespectful. These forms of debauchery are only a few examples of life’s current state of debauchery. This is why it’s so much more crucial that we rise above the darkness and become childlike again. Matthew 18:3, AMP reads, “…and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self — your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

There are many areas of life that are in dire need of restoration to innocence. We as Believers have a responsibility to break through the lies and build a better world for our children.

There’s a school of thought out there called the Seven Mountains, or the Seven Mountain Mandate originally written about in Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson’s book titled, Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, 2013. There is some controversy surrounding the topic, and I don’t want to go into why here. You can research that on your own. I only mention it to say that the seven mountains or categories of society and culture make a good list to follow for prayer, blessings, meditation, and finding our purpose.

The Seven Mountains are:

  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Education
  • Family
  • Government
  • Business
  • Media
  • Religion

Knowing which “mountain” we are called to is important. Yours may be a bit different than what is listed here and over time it will get more specialized. The key is knowing the area of society you are called to influence. And maybe you are called to more than one area.

The bottom line is that the devil’s lies block the truth of who we are, our healing, and our ability to grow, change, and mature. Lies block our blessings, which we already have been given. Many of God’s promises in the Bible are written in a past tense form. God’s promises have already happened in Heaven; they’ve been given to us already. It’s our job to remember to receive His promises here on earth. We are to pray God’s will be done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matthew 6:10). Sometimes it can be a struggle to receive from God because we are in need of further healing.

Fighting for Freedom

We have victory with Jesus, so why do we still struggle? Upon salvation, we are born again with Christ in the middle of a raging spiritual war. We must work through battles to find our personal victory and freedom. The battlefield is in the mind. It starts with our thoughts which turn into beliefs and if we believe lies, we lose battles.

One way to win battles is to identify the problem and find solutions by asking ourselves important questions. Try this five-step process to find out how to win battles:

  1. Identify the problem (write as much as you need to).
  2. What is the lie or are the lies in this problem?
  3. What is the truth based on God’s Word?
  4. What are some solutions?
  5. Then get some counsel via Scripture, pastors, counselors, and/or mature friends.

Here’s how it looks in a simple grid I developed with an example:

Excerpt from Jana’s book called, “Hardwired to Trust God: And Exploring Trust in Ourselves & Others.”

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Be At Peace

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Today is a world full of chaos and head spinning events almost too much to comprehend. If you happen to be brave enough to turn on the news, you might find yourself getting a major headache and a heavy heart. Tuning your ears to the ever present sound of sirens from emergency vehicles blaring all day and night. The occasional gunshots that permeate your peaceful thought process and quiet mind space. They all are ingredients for stress and worries to build up enough pressure to send us emotionally places we would rather not be. There are many more stressors that we can add to our lists. Our own set of worries keep us in a state of worry and continuing to be ill at ease.

When we are robbed of our peace it is hard to function in life. Sleep goes, health goes, good decisions go, relationships suffer, and anything else that requires our attention. Our joy is taken away. We can’t seem even to enjoy the day we planned of our favorite thing to do. Our worry is still lurking in the back of our mind. Anxiety is a creeper when it comes to invading our daily thoughts. We worry, often missing the opportunity to gain information on solving a problem. It is by way of the fear associated with anxiety. We push out the incoming peace to walk out our daily life. The worry is like a vice that squeezes harder the more life we give to it.

How Do We Resolve This Vicious Cycle?

First our mindset has to be one that knows God will always take care of us and all that concerns us. Secondly, if we make a list of the facts, pros and cons and take our emotions out of the problems, we will have a much clearer mind to proceed with problem solving. Things we have no control over we have to let go of. The majority of fears are never realized. Our best place to be, is living in the moment. The centered peace will bring us to just BE. Learning how to just BE in the moment or just being , is an attainable place in our life. There is no striving or jockeying for position. We fully accept our realm of peace.

Here Below Is The Famous Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; lcourage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world As it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right If I surrender to His Will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life And supremely happy with Him Forever and ever in the next. Amen.

(Prayer attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr, 1892-1971)

This prayer is a great way to start realizing how we can slow down, breathe and be grateful for our peace.

Life Giving Scriptures

But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged. Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld. – Job 36:17 NLT


A psalm of David. Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. – Psalm 37:1 NLT


Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. – Psalm 37:7 NLT


Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. – Proverbs 12:25 NLT


They keep saying to those who despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The LORD says you will have peace!’ And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!’ – Jeremiah 23:17 NLT


“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? – Matthew 6:25 NLT


“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. – Matthew 6:34 NLT


When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. – Matthew 10:19 NLT


Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. – Luke 12:22 NLT


And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? – Luke 12:26 NLT


Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. – Philippians 4:6 NLT


But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. – 1 Peter 3:14 NLT

TRUSTING GOD

Leaving everything at the feet of Jesus who died for us to live in wholeness is the best way we can navigate this world. It is full of ups and downs and instabilities. We can always be at peace knowing He will never leave us. The following scriptures are descriptive of how he loves us.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? – Romans 8:31 NLT
Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? – Romans 8:32 NLT


Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one–for God himself has given us right standing with himself. – Romans 8:33 NLT


Who then will condemn us? No one–for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. – Romans 8:34 NLT


Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? – Romans 8:35 NLT


(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) – Romans 8:36 NLT


No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. – Romans 8:37 NLT


And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. – Romans 8:38 NLT


No power in the sky above or in the earth below–indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:39 NLT

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – John 14:27 KJV

Not Offendable

Photo by Karl Magnuson on Unsplash

Walking in our daily lives we encounter relationship difficulties everyday. The day in and day matters can plague our sensibilities or sharpen our heart to love unconditionally or sacrificially. The question is what are our triggers to sway us one way or the other?

Being offended by every little thing that comes our way often is a sign of a heart that is hurt and hurting. It may be a sign of misunderstanding or a bad heart lens. It may simply be we heard the words from the other person with a skewed understanding of them, the situation or someone else’s opinion about that person.

If we are continually offended we are quite simply walking as a victim with the victim mentality. The victim believes it is all about him or her. In the offense that the person always believes they are targeted for, really just means, there is a lack of love missing in that part of their heart. There is darkness where the carnal heart still needs light and love. It also means they are pushing you away because they can’t handle intimacy. Remember, intimacy means vulnerability. Vulnerability involves good and bad with the other person. Not to mention weakness.

They also lack responsibility and are actually immature in that area they are offended in. The irresponsibility is very dangerous for them because they can’t grow. The truth they need to receive to make the changes are being pushed away in the attitude they don’t have to be responsible.

Fear then resides within them because there is a lack of love. The fear factor is the glue that keeps out the truth and holds the walls of hurt together to keep people out and the offenses inside. Love is the great penetrator to dissolve the walls and let the truth in. The light to open our spiritual eyes to the love of God and to love and experience love with other people.

People who isolate are not strong. They are reenforcing their walls with a way of living to run away from people who would otherwise hold them accountable. They come out of hiding when they need something from someone. Isolating just perpetuates their condition.

So back to the triggers. What happens in your being when you are being offended? It is not to say that others will never directly attack us. Your list of discernment for the triggers can look something like this. (1.) What did they really say? (2) What did they mean? (3) Was it really about you in a negative way? (4) Was I tired, hungry, sick, or otherwise vulnerable?(5) What was my part in the conversation? (6) Did the statement or conversation bring up fear in any form? (7) Did they push a button they knew would upset me? (8) Was it a sore subject for them or me? (9) How big was the hurt that either of us had a the topic or time of the things being said? (10) Was the conversation rushed or mishandled? (11) If hurt was brought out , was it addressed by either person and resolved? Being defensive is another sign of not feeling safe in the conversation. It looks like pushing people away and what is being said pushed away. It is a mechanism for guarding your heart. It is related to self preservation. Being defensive is a sign that the person you are talking to, is a person who is criticizing you and/or you are used to being criticized by a parent.

These are just a few questions to discern triggers and next you must follow the feelings to the next level to start to understand yourself , the other party and the situation to becoming un-offendable. Healing of these areas are imperative to grow, change and heal.

So let’s look at what offense or offended is defined as.

1. something that outrages the moral or physical senses 2. the act of displeasing or affronting 3. a breach of a moral or social code 4. a cause or occasion of sin 5. an impediment to belief or understanding (stumbling block) The following synonyms aggression, assault, attack, attempt, blitz, blitzkrieg, charge, coup de main, descent, offensive, onset, onslaught, raid, rush, strike.

Surely, we often feel threatened by the words displayed here. That brings me to the next part of being un-offendable.

When we work at understanding the context of our conversations by responding and not reacting, we learn very quickly how to become operating in love and not fear. Reacting means we are often operating out of a fearful heart. And often feeling threatened. Responding means we took in the information without being offended. Find safe ways to talk to each other. Love is a choice.

In doing our part, by not trespassing against our neighbor, we are on our way to really loving and not feeling threatened and fearful.

Also learning healthy boundaries, sets us up for not feeling so threatened because we have gauged what we can handle at the moment. In time those boundaries can be redone to fit the growth we have experienced. The object is to live together in community not divided and in a reclusive state because we are still wounded and hurting.

H 4383 in the Strong’s concordance. Here is the Hebrew word meaning for offend. To cause to offend. כָּשַׁל kâshal, kaw-shal’; a primitive root; to totter or waver (through weakness of the legs, especially the ankle); by implication, to falter, stumble, faint or fall:—bereave (from the margin), cast down, be decayed, (cause to) fail, (cause, make to) fall (down, -ing), feeble, be (the) ruin(-ed, of), (be) overthrown, (cause to) stumble, ×utterly, be weak.

We are at fault when we cause people to purposely be offended when we know they have limits within themselves. Please be careful how you treat people who struggle with boundaries and are often the weaker vessel where love is concerned.

Love helps us not to be offended. We must continue to strive to Love others as God loves us.

Matthew 22:36-39 KJV – 36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Psalm 119:165 KJV – Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Matthew 13:41 KJV – The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;


Matthew 18:6 KJV – But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and [that] he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Matthew 18:15 KJV – Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

1Thessolonians 1:3 KJV – Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;


1Thessolonians 3:12 KJV – And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all [men], even as we [do] toward you:


2Thessolonians 3:5 KJV – And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.


Jude 1:21 KJV – Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

John 15:10 KJV – If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

Chapter 3: Fear of Man

Fear of Man

The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in
the Lord shall be safe.

Proverbs 29:25, The Passion Translation

If we engage in the Fear of Man, we give it power. We allow it to bind us up and need to be set free. Satan loves to use the Fear of Man to keep us in bondage. He has worked a very long time to trip us up and he’s good at it. Remember, he wants to kill, steal and destroy us. If he can effectively get our eyes off Jesus, he will succeed.

What Will People Think?

We are often worried about what others think about us. Some of us are even detrimentally obsessive about it. We are worried about what we’ll wear in order to look good around various groups of people or situations. We omit information even to our family or best friends because we don’t want to be embarrassed or judged. We think we must have the right material objects to fit in. And on it goes.

We can really get into spiritual trouble when we authorize those thoughts to repeat themselves over-and-over in our minds. When we do this, we are not thinking about God and we are opening ourselves up for suffering.

We can also feel we are not good enough or worthy. We engage in people-pleasing, codependency, and every other way we Actualize Death in our lives. We can take on the role of a predator or a victim. And we can try to please God by joining every ministry we are interested in and some we aren’t. These dead works get us nowhere. But we can learn from our mistakes.

Excerpt from my new book, Hardwired to Fear God: Overcoming the Fear of Man.

Visit my Author page at Amazon to see more books I’ve written.

Overcoming the Fear of Man

Photo by JR Korpa on Unsplash

The more we focus on fearing God, the more we overcome the fear of man.

We must have faith that because we love Him, we have nothing to fear. We must trust nothing will hurt us beyond what are already equipped to handle. And we must understand, hope for, and expect God’s miraculous power to intervene in our lives where Satan is concerned.

God is the Almighty, the I AM. He is the only one capable of taking our life and/or casting our soul into hell (Luke 12:5). God is the one to fear with respect, awe and reverence as our Creator.

We must be changed by revelation to receive the Fear of the Lord.

Excerpt from my current book, Hardwired to Fear God: Overcoming the Fear of Man

Season Two Podcasts are Here with Change & Growth

Hardwired for Life: Season 2, Episode 1

Welcome to Season Two!

Change and Growth are important for us to mature as Christian believers. It can be hard to face change and we may need new tools to help work through fear and challenges. This Podcast discusses various reasons we may get stuck and tools for growth, while giving some real-world application.

Podcast Replay: Emotions & Fear

Hardwired Replay: Season 1, Episode 31
The conversation we had for this Podcast Replay was one of our first episodes. It’s always fun to see how far you have come, knowing you’ll also grow in the future. Be blessed, Spread the Word and remember to Be You, Share You.

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