God created us in His image, likeness, and gave us dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-27)!
Therefore, we are like God; our true self has the characteristics of
God! We have the same make up as God because He is our Creator, our
Father, and He loves us very much! God will take good care of us if we
give Him a chance; if we cast ALL our cares upon Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7; Psalms 55:22)!
Jesus tells us to come to Him if we have heavy burdens and He will give
us rest; His rest, His peace!! Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is
light (Matthew 11:28-30)!! Jesus has left us His peace (John 14:27 ) and we have to do is receive and embrace it! We do not have to stressed or anxious! Philippians 4:6-8 tells us not to be anxious but go to God in prayer for what we want; make our request known to Him with thanksgiving!
Adam
disobeyed God in the Garden and sin entered the world but God had a
plan; Jesus! God was not surprised by what happened! God had already
made a way of escape for man; He loved us that much!!
God formed us in our mother’s womb; He called and chose us there (Psalms 139:13; Jeremiah 1:5; Isaiah 44:2 (this link has a lot more Scriptures showing God chose us in our mother’s womb; Galatians 1:15)! Even before the foundation of the world, God chose and predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-6)! God created us for His glory (Isaiah 43:7)!
We are no longer under the Law of Moses but under grace and truth through Jesus (Romans 6:14)! Jesus cancelled ALL debts that sin required us to pay and nailed them to the cross; we are no longer condemned (Colossians 2:14; Romans 8:1)! Since Jesus has cancelled our sin debt, we are no longer in bondage to sin; sin is no longer our slave master (Romans 6:18; read the whole Chapter of Romans for full understanding)!
We are spirit beings first; not flesh beings! Remember in Genesis 1:26-27
that God said He was making us in His image and likeness? God has
shaped and molded us to His Son’s image! When God looks at us, He does
not see our sins but He sees His Son Jesus’ righteousness!
Our true identity is that we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:22)! When we become born of God, the evil one CANNOT touch us (1 John 5:18)! Click here for a teaching by Joyce Meyer to help you know who you are in Christ!
Jesus HAS freed us from ALL
bondages over 2000 years ago when He died on the cross for our sins,
sicknesses, diseases, infirmities, afflictions, guilt, shame, and ANYTHING else that comes to destroy us (Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:4-5; Isaiah 54:17)! Therefore, we do not have to live in our past, rehearsing the hurts and our mistakes! John 8:36 lets us know that whom Jesus has set free, is free indeed; NO ifs, ands, or buts – it is done, it is finished (John 19:30)!
God loves YOU! It does NOT matter what you have done, it doing, or where you are in your life right NOW GOD LOVES YOU! NOTHING you can do will EVER change that; NOTHING can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39)!
Ephesians 1:4-8 says:
“4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God
decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to
himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave
him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding” (biblegateway.com – NLT).
John 3:16 and 1 John 4:10 tells how God showed His love for us:
16“For
this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”
(biblegateway.com – NLT).
“10 This
is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his
Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (biblegateway.com – NLT).
1 John 4:19 tells
us our love for God is because God loved us first; we are loving God
back! It says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (biblegateway.com
– NKJV).
There is NOTHING you have done, is doing, or will do that surprised God and He still loves you! Remember, in Jeremiah 1:5 God told you He knew you in your mother’s womb? Well He does and has removed your sins as far as the East from the West (Psalms 103:12)!
All
you have to do is embrace God’s love for you; you do this by accepting
Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior! You will be born again; receive a
spiritual birth – you become born of the Spirit of God! Romans 10:9 tells us if we confess Jesus with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved!
Once
you pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your personal
Lord and Savior, ask God to lead you to a Bible believing church; ask
Him to give the Pastor He wants you to have so you can get rooted and
grounded in the Word of God! You need a Pastor who will take time with
you; who will nurture you in the things of God and pray for you – to
watch over your soul!
Don’t panic
or allow the enemy or anyone else tell you that you are not saved if
you still desire the things of old; it will take time to walk as mature
Christian. Psalms 37:24 says though you, you will not be cast down because God upholds you with His hands! This does not mean you deliberately sin (Romans 6); when the enemy comes, resist him and he has to flee (James 4:7)!
Those old things still comes to us after we accept Christ because there
are unresolved issues in our soul and the old nature is there; the
false self (we will talk more about the soul in a little bit)! But when they come, you have choice; are going to choose to stay the same or do you want to be ALL God called you to be?
Focus
on the love of God, how much He loves you and don’t allow anything to
shake you loose from your faith place; don’t replace your faith with
fear – you were saved by God’s grace through your faith in Jesus’
finished work on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9).
You have received God’s gift of Salvation through His Son Jesus! You
are now a son or daughter of God, His heir and a joint-heir with Jesus (Romans 8:17)! Praise God!!
Now,
I am going to talk a little about the soul so you can understand, your
soul has to be regenerated too like your spirit was. Man is a whole being, made up of three parts: spirit
(determines our identity), soul (personality – houses our mind
[thinker], our emotions [feeler], and will [chooser]), and body
(dwelling place for our spirit and soul). (Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23); click here for a teaching about the three parts of man – it will also help resolve issues in your soul that is keeping you sick.
When you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit washes and regenerates your human spirit (spirit man) (Titus 3:5)
but your soul is not submitted to God yet; that is where you come in –
you must submit yourself fully to God! God has given man choice, as I
said before, and you must choose to submit totally to God and get rid of
the lusts, desires, hurts, pains, and EVERYTHING else from the
old man; you must do this so the Holy Spirit can lead you ! If you do
not, your soul will continue to lead you and your desire will be for the
old things and not God; lust, desires, and appetites arise from your
soul (1Peter 2: 11)! Colossians 3:1-3 says:
“1If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (biblegateway.com – NKJV).
As you learn about God, deal with the issues in your soul too. Here is how to deal with soul issues:
- Write down EVERYTHING that has affected you emotionally; this will help you to face them so you can process what happened – you don’t have to understand the “Why” just accept it so you can move on. Accepting what happen to you does not mean it was right, it means it is in the past and there is nothing you can do about it now. Put it in God’s hand and move on. Emotions are in your soul remember? And you are cleaning your soul; therefore, whatever affected you emotionally, plays a big part on you living the abundant life Jesus died for you to live – get rid of it! I have included a “Forgiveness Affidavit” along with a “Prayer Against Unforgiveness” you can use to write the names down of the people who has hurt you and pray against the spirits that is keeping you from forgiving. If you need more sheets of paper, you can use blank ones.
- Forgive your offenders! You must for others who hurt you or God will not forgive you (Matthew 5:33; Luke 6:29). Forgiveness is a choice; not a feeling! You choose to forgive people who has hurt you and you keep choosing until you longer cringe when they come around or you hear their name! If you cry when you think about what they did, it’s okay; you are releasing the pain that the offense caused! Forgiveness will purge the pain of that thing from your memories; when you think of it, it will not hurt you! Of course, it will be in your memory of what happened (unless God blots it out – He has blotted out a lot of my childhood memories since they were traumatic) but it will not hurt when it comes to your mind! This pain, traumas, and dramas from your past has held you back long enough! LET THEM ALL GO!! Forgiveness helps you do that! Release EVERYONE who has EVER HURT YOU! GET RID OF THE BONDAGES TODAY!
- Pray the “Prayer Against Unforgiveness” (it is attached) over each person on your list (“Forgiveness Affidavit” and as the Holy Spirit speak to you about each person or each offense (He may or may not for each one), write it down under the column “The Holy Spirit’s Answer (Truth).” It will take time for this, so don’t rush it; do it when it is just you and God! It might take you going through this process more than once; it does not matter – you want to be free of these bondages in your soul and every hindrance that threatens your walk with God!
- You are FREE NOW! NO MORE BONDAGES! NO MORE SHACKLES! NO MORE PAIN! You are free because Christ has set you free and whom He sets free is free indeed! Don’t wait until you feel like you have forgiven the people who hurt you to believe you are free; as I said, forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice! When you first decide to forgive, you are not going to feel like forgiving but keep forgiving, it will happen! You are not alone and God will help you!
“Prayer Against Unforgiveness”
Do
you have debts to cancel? Is the Holy Spirit bringing anybody to mind
right now? Do you have any buried roots? Let the Holy Spirit search you.
Can you give God your pain and grief? Will you give them to God? Would
you like me to show you how to do it?
Think
of the person that has hurt you the most during your life: an
unfaithful spouse, rapist, a sexual abuser, or maybe a parent that
rejected you or always put you down. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to
mind the ones who have hurt you then write their names down on the “Unforgiveness Affidavit;” write the ones who have hurt you the most down first.
Are you ready to be set free and release the other person from the
bondage of unforgiveness? Forgiving that person or those people does not
justify in any way what they have done to you; you are releasing them
because you want to be free from the sin of disobedience‐let God take
care of them.
Pray This Prayer After You Complete “Unforgiveness Affidavit”
In
the name of Jesus, and as an act of my free will, I purpose and choose
to forgive (the person) from my heart for (what they did).
In
the name of the Lord Jesus, I cancel all (the person's) debts or
obligations to me. Lord Jesus, forgive me for my bitterness towards (the
person).
In the name of Jesus, I break and cancel Satan's power over me in this memory, and the resulting pain. I hate the devil.
In
the name of Jesus, I command that all the tormentors that have been
assigned to me because of my unforgiveness to leave me now. In the name
of Jesus, I command the bitterness to go. Holy
Spirit, come into my heart and heal me of this pain and this hurt. Holy
Spirit, please tell me your truth in this situation.
(Pause
quietly and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. Listen
carefully for what He has to say and write it down on the “Unforgiveness
Affidavit” under the column “The Holy Spirit’s Answer – Truth”)
“Unforgiveness Affidavit”(See it in PDF teaching)
As
the Holy Spirit speaks to you, write down His message in the space
provided below. This is God’s testimony to you. When you have finished
this prayer for each person or situation on your list, command the
principality of bitterness to go in the name of Jesus.
Reference: The “Unforgiveness Prayer” and “Forgiveness Affidavit” is courtesy of Dr. Art Mathias. They are from his book, “Biblical Foundations of Freedom Destroying Satan’s Lies With God’s Truth.” Dr. Mathias' materials are copyright protect; if you would like to use his material, contact him via his web site: www.akwellspring.com.
Your
life is now hidden in Christ since you accepted Him as your personal
Lord and Savior; therefore, seek the things from above and not on earth (Colossians 3:1-4).
The old nature (old man) has no more dominion over you; old things are
NOW passed away, all things are new from this point on (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Declare YOUR freedom TODAY! Here is a song by Eddie James, “Freedom” which will help you with your declaration of freedom! As you sing along with Eddie, make your declaration, “I AM FREE!” It is not about feeling that you are free; you must BELIEVE
God has set you free through His Son Jesus! You have been given a
measure of faith to believe and as you grow in God, your faith will
grow; stay close to God and His real Word!
Also, here is a link for new Christians to help you grow in God and His Word; The Way of the Master site will give you “10 Principles for New Christians” plus they have a lot more information on the site that will help you.
Welcome
to the Family of God! God bless you as you walk with Jesus; as you
embark on your new journey with God! If you would like to contact me for
prayer or to ask a question, you can email me at drdehooks@abusedwoman.org.
Here are two songs that will encourage and bless you:
Francesca Battistelli – “He Knows My Name”
Danny Gokey – “Hope in Front of Me”
"God Love YOU!" - PDF
"Affidavit of Forgiveness" - PDF
In His Service,
Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks
NOTE: These materials are copyright protected therefore you must request permission to reproduce any part of this material. To request permission, please contact Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks: drdehooks@abusedwoman.or
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