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Jesus said “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.” Matthew 11:12.
Christians go through violent trials, and the devil tries to get the upper hand over us whenever he can in whatever way he can. I live in the UK, a Christian country, a real misnomer, and go through heaps of trials here. From my view, there are few who act, speak and look from a true Christian viewpoint. There is plenty of godlessness here, a lot of darkness, and lots of devilish and worldly people. Spiritual battles are frequent.
You can be persecuted and pressured so much that you hardly have any faith, or actually none you can perceive at the time. You still plod along with your bible reading and prayer but nothing lifts the heavy weight of the trial. You are in touch with other Christians and their conversation, prayers and support give some relief.You really need to change your environment to get the sort of peace you are looking for, and feel you should have and to have your faith restored. You cannot trust worldly people and should not.
The lastI few weeks have been troublesome and I got bitten by a dog. The day that happened the air around me was thick with hate, accusation,condemnation, victimisation and persecution for no just reason, and I knew I was in a bad place. Faith was really blocked out. Psychological pressures, plus spiritual persecutions meant I was in survival mode in my faith life. You want a time out, or an umpire to stop proceedings and someone to plead your case, and to let your attackers see you as God does, but nothing like this happens.Satan tries shutting out your faith, and is helped by worldly people who work with him to suppress your faith in Jesus. At some level you trust God and put yourself in His hands.
Satan clutters the mind., and messes with your head even if you consider your faith strong. You need faith and perspective to live. Life with Jesus is full of faith and life. When you go through some trials it is as if you have become a worldly, secular person, and of a worse kind than before you began walking with Jesus. In this situation, all you think about is what the world thinks. It is an awful, horrible and ugly place to be. At some level you have faith, and God may help you a little bit in these times, but sometimes you need a big dose of faith to recover properly.
Satan also tampers with your memory. I tried to recall certain past happy times, but it was hard going to do even that. Later, God did help me retrieve the memories I sought. At these times of trial, I would say following Jesus compared to these ways of thinking is like light to darkness. But it is a disguised darkness posing as light, right and justice, when in fact the opposite is true. Also, light exceeds darkness, as God does Satan and man. The world is a vicious, devilish place but with Jesus you will be safe. There are plenty of wolves in sheeps clothing among the worldly, not just among the religious. You do get savaged and mauled by them. God will supply enough grace to get you through to the next place of rest, peace and strengthening, even though at the time there seems no end in sight from these trials, and sometimes it feels like you are alone with no support.
Satan and man know how to play mind games with you, and it is a full time job to get yourself back into God’s realm. Until I am back with Jesus, and perceive Him I do not feel safe. It is a battle of the mind to get thinking in a godly way and get away from thinking like a worldly person, and you really need to assert yourself.
Life without faith in Jesus, is worthless, meaningless and not for me. I struggle, squirm and turn to get out of thinking like this, and out of places like these, since it is alien to me, and I know God and I know the faith I should have.
When trials are harsh you need to actively look for new ways to get to a position of strong faith again. Here are some.
Take every opportunity to live in the present. More than once, the Holy Spirit woke me from a troubled sleep to look at the moon or a planet from my bed. I looked and kept looking till I got peace.
Another way is to write a list of all the birds, or plants you see on walks. Writing keeps the mind focused on the present, and helps put your mind more vigorously on the task at hand in the present, rather than dwell on what Satan and man are doing.
A third activity is to study. Put your mind on new things, and not on things of the world. You need to have peace in your mind and study is an exercise in self control. Satan and man cannot control your mind or thoughts when you study; you do.
Meeting friends who are Christians helps too. You need to be with those you trust.
Then your faith returns, and you are back in the place of strength with God. Faith wins over darkness and doubt. God always provides me with times in life to strengthen faith and restore the soul again. God is faithful, and He will keep you close and revitalise you. He also keeps a truthful, honest, detailed record of the trials you go through, and will reward you in due course.
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