brokenness – Collective Circle Gathering

I am going to be writing about my experience with mental strongholds and how I overcame the chains of anxiety and depression that ruled my life. This is a very sensitive subject but after many weeks of talking myself out of writing this, I am doing it. This comes from my experience and how I decided to battle these strongholds with the word of God, prayer, and a relationship with Jesus. After years of depression and anxiety, I realized that it was my outlook on my circumstances and the perspective that I had. That perspective was steaming from the enemy and the lies he told me about me.

Lets Start By Defining A Stronghold:

Biblically speaking a stronghold is a belief that is a lie and has taken root and overpowered your ability to think or see clearly according to God’s view and what His word tells us. This effects you emotionally, spiritually, and even physically.

Lets Look At The Cause Of Strongholds:

It is so easy to get caught up in negativity, a false belief system, doubts, fear, and our circumstances. We are trained by the media, by people, and the ways of the world to live and think according to their standards. We must accept that we fight against unseen spiritual forces of the dark world and that this world is ruled by the dark forces. Yes, that means demons and malicious spirits that are causing affliction in your mind, on you, and to you. They have stealthily found a way inside of your mind and they are trying to take over. Perhaps they already have.

For a cause to take place, there has to be a sin or a circumstance that negatively affected you. Therefore, that leaves you dealing with the effects. This could be your sin or even someone else’s sin that has altered your way of thinking and your way of doing things. If you are unable to let things go, the memory that haunts you can have a negative impact on your life. If we allow a certain thought to replay in our mind, we start to believe that thought.

Here is an example: As a child and young adult, I experienced rejection from my dad who was an addict. Although it was not intentional, his addiction stronghold was the cause of my rejection stronghold.

Ephesians 6:10 | For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Identifying Your Strongholds:

Identifying the areas in your mind that are strongholds require you to take examine your life – the past and present. It can be uncomfortable at first but as we know from God’s Word, the truth sets you free! Once you begin to identify and see the parallels, you will rejoice in knowing the cause of your afflictions and reasons of why you think or do something a certain way.

Here is a list of the most common strongholds relating to the mind:

(Be in prayer with the Heavenly Father, ask Him to reveal yours to you, and be open to listening to His answer)

Rejection
Fear
Doubt
Shame
Hopelessness
Worthlessness
Negativity
Anger

Lets Look At The Solutions:

Now that we have identified what a stronghold is and the cause, let us start taking a look at how we tear down the strongholds and replace them with God’s truth about you.

First, you must repent and turn from any sin that is unconfessed. Once we have done so we will be able to break free from any sin that is causing negative effects. You must remember that God has already won the battle and you must have faith to fight through.

Second, you must know and accept that God is sovereign. He is the supreme authority and all things are under His control. Without Him, you can not win. You need Him to fight a supernatural battle.

Third, you must believe and accept that you are forgiven, our sins and past are washed away by the blood of Jesus! You have the power to live free in Christ. This is His desire for you!

2 Corinthians 5:17 | Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Fourth, you must act!

Great! So, how do you act?

This will require you to put your faith in action and when you experience the enemy placing thoughts or past memories into your mind, you must exercise your authority in Jesus Christ to reject your past way of thinking and replace your thoughts with all good things that are of Jesus.

Philippians 4:8 | “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.”

Accepting The Past Is The Past

Unfortunately, the enemy knows about who you were and all the things you have done and said that you are not proud of. There will come a day when he is smearing it in your face and putting every sordid detail back into your mind.

When you start remembering the past, you must stop replaying past memories. You can not allow yourself to be controlled by your past – no matter how painful and haunting it is! It happened and it can not be changed! Get your head out of the past and strain your neck to look forward into your future! Your past is not there!

Philippians 3:13-14 | Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Renewing Your Mind

Romans 12:2 | Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

You must ask the LORD to guard your mind and to help you keep your mind focused on what is right in the eyes of Him.

Every day you have to wash and bathe in God’s living word. It refreshes you and each day you will learn something new about the characteristics of God and how he truly feels about you! To renew your mind is to spend time with the LORD, read the Bible, and pray daily!

Taking Every Thought Captive

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 | For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Every thought that comes to mind must be tested. Ask yourself – is it from our loving Heavenly Father or is it from Satan who is set out to steal, kill, and destroy?

With God there is life.

With Satan there is death.

With God there is truth.

With Satan there are lies.

With God there is hope.

With Satan there is hopelessness.

With God there is a future.

With Satan there is a past.

With God there is confidence.

With Satan there is fear and doubt.

With God there is boldness and bravery.

Ask yourself, does this thought come from God or Satan?

If it comes from Satan, then you need to hold that thought captive, pray and ask God to slay this thought and replace it with His truths. Seek His word and learn what He says in scripture. Rejoice and praise God for the truth that He is replacing in your life. Slowly, you will see just how each thought, especially thoughts that seem to be on repeat can cause depression, anxiety, and fear!

Xoxo,

Hannah B.

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this blog and if you did be sure to leave a comment down below and share across all of your social media feeds!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and encourage you to seek professional help to determine what is best for your situation and I am not encouraging you to stop current treatments. I do believe that with physicians and the hands of our great physician, you can be healed! Almost always, there is a root cause and I do believe that we need to get down into the roots to properly heal.

Barefoot Devotions

1996 – A Bus Kid

July 10, 2018 Hannah B.

It is a hot and humid typical Southern day that triggers the memory of Vacation Bible School. The joy of going to church that provided a vacation from home and hope fresh on the mind and heart. Looking forward with joy and anticipation of the church van that would be coming down the dirt road to carry you to church for the evening.

1996 was different. It was two extremes colliding together. It was a culmination of events that would set the lives of a family on fire that would burn until there was nothing left to burn. It began with a bus kid.

It was a year of great suffering, but the joy that was coming was far greater than the issues that come with alcoholism, drug addiction, and a broken home.

It started with the love of Christ that filled the bus that was displayed by someone who loved God. Someone who experienced God’s love, mercy, hope, and forgiveness.

It continued for the week with God convicting a nine year old girl of the sins that made her dirty. Not the kinda dirt you get from riding four wheelers and playing in the dirt all day but a kind of dirty that could only be washed away by Jesus’ blood.

Barely able to stand. Barely able to speak. Knowing the only place to be is down at the alter seeking the truth, redemption, solace, and accepting God’s truth and the only way to everlasting life through the death of His son, Jesus.

Jesus Accepted. Set Free. Hope Obtained. Life Given.

The moment she walked in her front door – life was about to change. The catalyst was about to ignite. Salvation would spread to a dad and sister chained to addiction. A wife and family’s prayers would soon be answered.

I am a bus kid, this is my story, and this is how God found us.

Xoxo,

Hannah B.

Barefoot Devotions

Not Forgotten

March 22, 2018April 25, 2018 barinmysoul

It always amazes me how distracted we can get on a daily basis and forget how far we have come in life. We do our day to day things and have our day to day issues. Could be a stressful day with work and kids and so much to do and so little time to do it. Or I just got paid and now I have no money.

Recently, I was watching a documentary on the Oklahoma City building bombing that sadly happened back in 1995. I remembered that I had written in my journal just a few short days afterwards about how I had felt about it. I ran upstairs and grabbed my journal out of my suitcase full of all my teenage memories. Which is pretty fitting considering I moved around a lot as a child. My parents were divorced and I found myself going back and forth between the both of them.

So, I started reading my journal which only consisted of a few months from that year. I must have remembered the old saying “don’t print anything on paper that you wouldn’t want broadcasted on the front page of a newspaper” Lol. As I was reading, I couldn’t stop. All these memories that I had blocked out. I was such a depressed and lonely teenage girl. I wanted to reach into that journal and hug her and tell her everything would turn out okay. My day to day journaling consisted of boy trouble, abuse, feelings of suicide and loneliness.I had wanted to have a closer relationship with Jesus but I found myself drowning in depression and anger.

I do remember times of shaking my fists and screaming out to God to take me out of this world. To make all this go away. To save me. I had no mentor back then. No woman to show me what a life for a girl is supposed to be like. I lived with my father and my 2 brothers most of the time. I longed for someone to see into my soul how tormented I was. I suppose I didn’t know how to articulate any of that at the time. I only knew how to yell and fight and defend myself. I only knew how to express how angry and sad I was. I got myself into quite a bit of trouble. Drugs, alcohol, premarital sex. I stopped caring about myself.

I don’t actually remember much of the details of that time; even the events I wrote about, but I do remember making my mind up at some point that I was going to look forward to the future and hold onto that last thread of hope that God was real and what I’ve learned my whole life was true and that Jesus loved me and hadn’t forgotten me.

Now, as I look around at my beautiful house and the peace in this house I see how God did deliver me. I have wonderful children. I didn’t do too much in my life in the right order but God still blessed me none the less. God saw through my soul and saw my pain and He delivered me. He set me on solid ground. I may have messed up in so many ways but being the Sovereign God He is; picked me up, dusted me off and pushed me forward. What an amazing mighty God we serve. And the thing is, I may have just been reminded of some of the pain I went through growing up and some of the awful things that were said to me or done to me but I’m also reminded that I am blessed and I survived. That I was saved and He did hear my cries and I was delivered from all of it. I don’t have to feel sad about it anymore. I don’t have to be angry. I can forgive and I am forgiven.

The annoyances that happen in my day to day are nothing compared to what The Lord God brought me out of so many years ago.

Looking back I don’t even recognize that girl in that journal. I know that God has transformed me. He has worked on my heart and has mended all my little holes and patched all those rips and tears. There may be scars but they are no longer wounds.

If you are going through a time in your life where you feel like nobody could possibly understand what you are going through or you feel like you are alone; I am a living testament that you are never alone. God does hear you and even if you don’t see his work yet, He is working on your behalf. It is always in the right time.

He knows perfectly and strategically where you are at in your grief or your anger or your sadness. He knows what you need and when you need it. He knows when you are open and ready to receive it. When you can lay it all down and get on your knees and recognize that He does have your back you are ready to receive it.

If you don’t have a mentor or somebody to reach out to that will listen and pray for you or pray with you, I encourage you to get out your bible and pray. I encourage you to find a bible based church to go to and do not isolate yourself. Reach out to other people or your pastor and ask them to pray with you. You are loved and you are never forgotten.

Luke 12:7- “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows”.

Valerie C.

Barin my Soul

The How To Series

How To Forgive When You’re Angry

February 8, 2018February 13, 2018 Hannah B.

Have you ever experienced a situation that has left you feeling abandoned, broken and crushed by someone you loved and trusted? Perhaps your spouse has committed adultery, a loved one has let you down a time or two or a close friends has shared something you told them in private. There can be a multitude of situations that have left you feeling this way. It doesn’t matter what your situation is but we all have had experiences that have caused our hearts to hurt. I wish I could wrap my arms around you and embrace you. I will leave you with this verse that has carried me through many of my own heart breaks.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

At first, you are hurting and grieving as you are waiting on your mind to process the events that have recently unfolded in front of you. You ask yourself how this happened or how you got to where you are and the famous question of why. If you are anything like me, I need to know the why to everything. I overthink and I over analyze the situation at hand until all of my emotions eat me a live. Most of the time, I let them because I like to soak in the “I’m right and you’re wrong mentality” or “I have the right to be angry because you did this”. Then comes the rage, the anger, and the need for revenge. Yep. It just gets uglier and uglier doesn’t it?

Proverbs 29:11 Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.

I’ve been that person in this situation and I’ve been the one that can’t let go of something. I understand and I can relate to these fleshly reactions and emotions. Unfortunately, it’s normal for us humans BUT it’s not good for our soul and it’s not what God intends for our life.

James 1:20 because human anger does not produce righteousness that God desires.

I’m not saying it’s not okay to be angry or feel the way you do because it’s quite the opposite. Those are your feelings and you have every right to feel them and work your way through them but you must control your reactions and your words.

Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

What does this mean? Well, we can gather that anger itself is not a sin but it’s your reactions that can be sinful if not controlled. The next part basically means that the sooner you let go of your anger, the better off YOU will be. Anger can fester like a nasty boil inside your heart than can result in a hardened heart. From the last part, I gather that the devil would love for you to let your anger fester because it allows him time to cause chaos in your life. Have you ever noticed that when you keep thinking about the event that caused your anger, you just get angrier, even more bitter and resentful? Perhaps the devil has seeped in through an open foothold that Ephesians warns us about. This is why it is so important to let go of the anger as quickly as we can because the devil will use it to his advantage.

Can you see the damage that has been done because we didn’t let go of our anger and forgive? The poison that caused our soul to rot. Can’t you see that the only one you are hurting is you? I can tell you that the person you are angry at is probably enjoying their life without being bothered by your anger and the unforgiveness in your heart.

How in the world do we move forward and forgive?

It starts in our heart and mind with a decision to forgive the person who wronged you. Say it out loud and pray it to Jesus. There is power in the willingness to forgive someone.

Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.

It’s not going to be easy but Jesus is with you every step of the way. If you are feeling hurt or if your mind is in over drive with ungodly thoughts about this person, pray and call out to Jesus. The devil will creep in and remind you of what this person said or did but you will need to be prepared to stop him quickly and not allow him a foothold into your mind. You can’t do this on your own but with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will conquer. You just have to ask.

Here is where you may think I have really gone coo coo…

Pray for the person who hurt you. Bless this person and do not curse. Pray for God’s will over this person’s life and their happiness and well being. Do it for no reason and do it when the devil attempts you to curse this person. Do it out of love. They hurt you out of weakness or wickedness and if we don’t pray for them we may never see the best that they could be. Most importantly, pray that the footholds the devil has over their life is broken.

Luke 6:27-28 But to you are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

You might be wondering, “Now what do I do about this person in my life?”

That is your decision to pray about. You know what’s best for you. Listen to the still small voice that you hear. Follow your instincts. Just because you have forgiven someone does not mean you allow them back in your life. It just means that you have found peace with them and the circumstances. It may take months or years to rebuild the trust and it may not ever happen. There is not anything wrong with loving and praying for people from afar.

Here is the real beauty in this: You are setting yourself free and tearing down walls that have been built around your heart. You are setting yourself up for God’s blessing and His peace that surpasses all understanding. Forgiveness is an art and it takes time to master but it holds such a powerful key to the life Christ wants you to have. He forgives us every time with so much love & mercy, how can we not do the same?

I want you to pray for any areas in your life that you may be convicted and for God search and know you. Pray that through Him you are able to find the peace through the pain as you take this journey with Him.

I challenge you to read: The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant located in Matthew 18: 21-35.

All of my love,

Tag: brokenness

How To Slay Your Mental Strongholds