Reflections of The Heart..

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The word of the Lord is guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life. God is truly mindful of the pain and wounds others have deliberately caused upon you intentionally through spite, showing malicious ill will. Having a deep desire to hurt, be vindictive with the motivation to annoy and cause upset towards another individual as they harbor and express angry feelings. Instead of addressing the issue, staying on topic and not issues with the person, seeking forgiveness, mending the relationship by pursuing peace. Most people cannot handle conflict and by allowing it to fester and holding a grudge only breeds bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment, retaliation and eventually separation. Long after our words are spoken the scars and echoes stay, from our emotional outrage. So, let's be Humble, Open and Transparent as God sees our turmoil. And God is saying, get to know people by their fruit and try their spirit if it be of the Lord and His ways.

Romans 12:18

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

The threefold agenda of Satan is to steal, kill and destroy. We are not fighting against flesh and blood but the enemy wants you to see the person and not him operating through them in human form. So, you hate that individual by failing to see Satan standing back laughing as he orchestrates his plan for our lives. When you submit your Will, Mind, & Emotions into giving in and retaliating you are taking the bait the enemy has now set up for you. The downside of giving someone a taste of their own medicine doesn't work, as now God has to judge you both. When we act emotionally immature we join our will to the enemy. As Christians we are instructed not to render evil for evil but to overcome evil by doing good. This also goes in reverse to the things of the Lord as both Satan and God need a vessel to which they can operate through. Therefore, we either become vessels of honor or vessels of dishonor. In fact, when Satan is done using a person to fulfill his plan he will eventually turn on them. A great way to be able to distinguish between the two is knowing the Characteristics of God such as love, joy, peace and so on and the Characteristics of Satan such as hate, lies, deceit, and jealousy. It's always best to show kindness and not give into the flesh as a biblical Principle of sowing and reaping will be in effect. God has a plan for your life and Satan also has a plan for your life. We need to be ready for both. Be wise enough to know which one to battle and which one to embrace.

There are numerous reasons people play mind games, but the goal is to gain a sense of Power and Control over another person. In which is not a godly character as God gives each person their own will and Satan uses mind control in order to intimidate and take a persons Will from them as we are all given the power to choose, even when we make the wrong choices it's there for each of us to learn and to grown at our own pace. Yet, that demonic driven person wants to get a specific response, but instead of telling you what they need up front they will devise a plan to make sure their needs are met by forcing you in a roundabout way to give them what they desire without asking for it. You cannot control someone's responses as that's a form of Witchcraft. It works in the realms of deception and manipulative tactics and the Bible instructs us to go humbly before the Lord and let our requests be made known unto Him. People who seek another source are going outside of the natural laws of God and aligning their headship under Satan's authority inside their lives giving him full ownership.

John 3:19 "Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil."

Oftentimes, once Satan is done using a person to hurt others he will then turn on them as his goal is to destroy as many people as possible. Whether through hurtful words, degrading looks, obscene gestures, or threatening behaviors, he inflicts a high degree of pain by delaying and hindering emotional growth. We have all been wounded by hurtful words and actions of others, often carrying a wounded heart for a lifetime. I was praying for those who come across this message and in the realm of the spirit the Lord began to say, don't give up because the enemy will overtake thee as you must fight him by doing spiritual warfare or perish. He's trying to bring toil and frustration upon you. To cause weary and trying to make you question and doubt God because it's like you've been going through the same cycles, the same seasons, praying, fasting and believing time after time and nothing is breaking forth. I hear the spirit of the Lord saying, that something is about to break in your life. It's as though I'm seeing David in the Bible who was anointed before his brothers. He was anointed in front of everyone that didn't like him but he wasn't called into the Kingship for thirty years but the call was placed inside him as a child. God is saying, be not weary in well-doing and at his appointed time things are going to work out for you. Don't throw in the towel because even these close attacks have been trying, they toil on you and even get into your mind. The Lord is saying, Be strong in this Season, that if you persevere, I will pull you out greater and the ladder shall be greater than the former.

In the Wilderness Walk you will discover that you were born with powerful God given abilities to not only realize your dreams and aspirations but also to overcome the most challenging turmoil inside your life. You have endured obstacles, loss, challenges and heartaches. Somewhere along the way you got lost and have spent a lifetime trying to remember and unearth the truth of who you are and why you were placed on this path in the first place. God has a purpose for you and if he didn't Satan wouldn't be trying to fight you so hard. The fact is you have great potential and through these circumstances it will reveal your inner strength you carry within. We must all realize you can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you don't want to feel. The issues that keep springing up are the hidden wounds you keep hauling around. Sometimes, we know as they're on the surface and other times we push them down so deep that they become frozen as we choose to forget about their very existence. Yet, the goodness of God will give us space and time to deal with these things and other times he will place us in a circumstance that brings our attention to the matter. Often because someone else is involved and they might be praying for clarity. Other times, we might have to inquire and ask God to show us the hidden things we have buried because it was too painful for us to deal with at the time.

Psalm 55:12-14

"For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company."

Luke 17:1-4

"Then said he unto the disciples, it is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him."

People often minimize the importance of emotions but the tool of the enemy is to use it as leverage against us. Yet, with deeply wounded people, their feelings can be the driving force behind their choices, the life-sustaining element of their very beings. Emotional abuse strikes at the very core of who we are, crushing our confidence, wearing away our sense of worth, crushing our Spirit.

Proverbs 17:22

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

What does the Bible have to say about emotional abuse? The Bible doesn't use the term emotional abuse but it does instruct us as to how we are to treat one another. The Bible details numerous attitudes and actions we should have towards each other. If we follow these guidelines, we will never be abusive toward anyone.

Philippians 2:1-11

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Life has been happening to a lot of people that came up against you. And when I say life, I mean Hurricane life. It's been knocking at their door, knocking them down. Nothing that they have been able to do has been successful. Finances have been hindered, kids are acting funny and jobs are being delayed. God said, touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm. And any tongue that rises up against you shall be condemned. And they think because they had a secret conversation and no one heard, but the people they were talking to, they felt so free to say something about you thinking that they can get away with it. Yet, that's not the case because God is saying, "I heard that!" Even the people that did things to you in secret, maybe HR filing a claim against you, that isn't true. Conspiring against you, doing all this lying, scheming and conniving. They thought they got away with it because no one saw it. But God is saying, I saw that. I saw that! Understand, I saw that and nothing is unknown. I am Omnipresent, as I am everywhere at the same time. I am Omniscient, all knowing. And there's nothing that you did to my child that I did not see, that I did not hear, that I did not sense, that I did not feel. Because God feels the pain of his children, as well. He feels when you're depressed. He feels when you're sad, He feels when you're lonely. He feels when you're upset. He feels when you're angry. God feels it all, he feels it All. And God is saying, I saw that. I felt that. I heard that. I sensed that. And he's been giving them what they deserve. God has literally been handing off vengeance to people. To the people who came up against you. And you don't wish harm on others. That's not your character, it's not who you are. You don't wish bad on people, and that's why God is saying, they came up against my child, that wouldn't even fight back. Don't get me wrong, you know how to fight but you don't partake in it. You're not trying to do that, you keep trying to live in peace but it seems like trouble keeps trying to find you every time you don't want war and prefer Love, Peace & Unity. Yet, war wants to war with you, and you really don't. You see things and you don't pursue them. You just keep moving, and they just keep coming, and coming. And God is saying, everything has a time limit. You might not see it behind the scenes, but you're about to hear about it. God said, they're about to come in with a peace offering. It's about to be offered to you. Take the offer. It's not because they feel guilty. It's because they're going to have to give it to you. Because, until they do right by you, everything they touch, everything they're thinking is not going to work. It's not going to prosper. And life is going to keep happening to them. God says, Love above all else, and he knows that you don't have hate in your heart like that. You're not one of those people who walk around angry, mean and you know in your heart you're not. You don't have to befriend anybody. Accept the apology and go your way as God will contend with those who contend with you. You go about your life because when you forgive somebody you don't have to go back. You're forgiving to let it go. Let that hurt go, let that seed of hate go and release that pain and give it all to Jesus. You don't look back as snakes shed their skin and only get bigger. Some, only apologize to deceive you as it's in their heart to remain sly and crafty even if you let them back into your circle. Use godly discernment as you don't have time for all that, not in this Season. God has shown them who you are and whose you are. And God is saying, they're going to have to let you go. They're going to have to come back, apologize sincerely and go about their business, because they cannot go where I am taking you. Even if they thought about coming up against you again everything attached to them is going to crumble. God is saying, this is truly your winning season. And he says, everything you touch is going to prosper because he searched you. He saw you. He sees you, El Roi is Hebrew for: "God sees me." God is saying, I see you and I see your heart, and I judged it as such. You're mine. You are mine, and You belong to me.

Psalm 139:16

"Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."

Throughout Scripture, God is called by various names. People in the Bible gave some of these names to Him, while others are names He first called Himself. Each name describes a part of His character. A woman named Hagar first used one of these names. When God met her in her distress, she said, "You are the God who sees me." El Roi is the God who numbers the hairs on our heads and counts our every tear. He knows every detail of our circumstances. When we pray to El Roi, we are praying to the God who knows everything about us. Even the most attentive parent must sleep but our Heavenly Father never closes His eyes to us. El Roi never misses a detail of what is happening. He sees Everything!

King David also knew God as El Roi, according to Psalm 139:16. He understood just how all-seeing God is, noting that God sees not only what is, but also what will be. It is mind-boggling to think of El Roi seeing us in His mind's eye, imagining just how He will form and fashion every detail of your being. He not only sees us. He also sees every one of our days, which are pre-ordained and written in His book. Yes, Hagar, He is the God who sees! How could we not trust such a God? How can we doubt Him if we know Him as El Roi? How much time and energy do we spend seeking to be seen and known, when we already have this need fully met in Jesus. When we trust Christ and our eyes are opened in faith, for the first time we clearly see God. Like Hagar, we cry, "I have now seen the One who sees me!"

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for seeing me, just as I am, and loving me fully and completely. Thank You for also seeing what I can be in Christ, and transforming me into the image of Your Son. It is such a comfort to know that no matter what has happened, is happening or will happen, You see it all and You are in control. Help me to trust You more and more each day. In Jesus' name, Amen!

In His Grip,

Pastor Wendy Schenkel