No More!

This past weekend, our Pastor taught of one of the spiritual tools in our tool chest. The lesson was from Mark 4:37-40. Pastor Mark taught that not every negative circumstance is from the enemy, and how we can know the difference.

Attack signs are loss of vision, dark clouds, an overall blanket of doom, thunder/rumblings - rattling lies, waves/high seas - you are going down.

The power tool is the storm cry. Realize that Jesus is in the boat - He has never left - He is there! Call on Him.


Rebuke the storm - Stand and declare the authority of Christ. Submit to God, resist the devil. Say to these lies & feelings - Cease! Be specific.


Replace with desired result - "Quiet down!" "Peace be still!" Rebuke & replace with faith prayers.


Those of you who know me know that my family and I have undergone an extended season of testing. Through it all, I've been submitting to God - searching my heart for sin to confess - praying to learn the lesson I needed to learn.


Yesterday, it happened again. That overwhelming sense of doom. All is hopeless. It's never going to get better.


Hunter was in another accident. His car is totalled. For those of you who are keeping score, that's 4 totalled cars between him and me since June 2007. Praise God, he is okay. The thoughts that overwhelmed me were about how much his insurance (already very high due to his previous accident) would be going up. How this additional burden would weigh on him as he's preparing for college. The cost of replacing his car. The deductible to be met. How this was just adding to the previous burdens we were facing - financial difficulty, job stresses. Wave upon wave of grief and despair were crashing over me. Tears were pouring like waterfalls from my eyes as I was driving to work. My face redder than Rudolph's nose. And then....


I remembered Pastor Mark's teaching from Sunday. I boldly gathered up all my courage and faith and shouted "No More! Satan, you and your demons are bound in Jesus' name from my family. You will have no more influence over us. You will keep your hands off of my son Hunter, off of my husband Rick, and off of me. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, remove yourselves now from our lives and begone. In Jesus name, in the name of Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again, who saved our souls for eternity. In Jesus' name."


Then the praises began - praises for Jehovah Jireh - our Provider, praises for El Shaddai - Almighty God, praises for Jehovah Rophe - the Lord who Heals, praises for Jehovah Shammah - the Lord is there. I praised God for the healing that would take place in my body, for the provision for our family, for the protection He would provide for us. Now it was waves of peace and mercy cascading over my soul. Tears of joy streaming down my face.


That was yesterday morning. Last night Rick found a position he may be interested in applying for. A friend of mine has a car for a decent price that he'd be willing to take payments on from Hunter. My appointment with my naturopath revealed that my body is handling things well, and we're moving to a new phase of treatment - a marked improvement from the last visit. Blessings from the Lord are overflowing.


I encourage you. If you find yourself overwhelmed as mentioned above, and it's not from everyday stress or your own sin, look to God. Bind the demonic influences from your life in the name of Jesus. Replace the void with praise. And watch God work in your life. Yield to Him. He will take you places you never thought you could go.