Declaration of Deliverance - Freedom - Healing & Hope!

I declare and decree that I am in Christ and it is for Freedom that Christ has set me free. Freedom is my right and privilege in Christ Jesus. Therefore, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I take authority over the works of darkness trying to come against my life, including any: witchcraft, sorcery, magic, spells, infirmity, pain and every other negative influence. Every demonic force that has made war against my life is now BOUND and CAST DOWN, rendered completely powerless, by the authority and power of the Mighty Name of Jesus! For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM. Thus, I declare and decree, that The Spirit of FREEDOM is my portion and continual experience, without any hindrance, in Jesus Name. I plead the Blood of my Lord Jesus Christ over every area of my life, including my: mind, will, emotions, spirit, soul, body, finances, relationships, vocation as well as my name and reputation. Every demonic assignment, scheme, work, plot or plan against me is right now: BOUND, Broken, Cancelled, Nullified and Void out, never to rise again, in Jesus Name. For no weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that has risen up against me in judgment I condemn. For this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and my righteousness is of Him (Isaiah 54:17)

Furthermore, every false accusation, false allegation, false charge, suspicion, lie, injustice, slander, maliciousness, contention, gossip, unfair treatment, prejudicial treatment, error about me, misunderstanding or ignorance about me or my life, that has been spoken out, set forth in any way, planned, put in operation or in any way seeking to hinder my life - all of these evil things are hereby bound, revoked, condemned, cast down, cancelled, nullified and permanently void out, off and away from my life, in Jesus Name. Amen.
I am righteous, holy, pure, clean, innocent and upright, undefiled and blameless and perfect before God, in Christ Jesus my Lord. By the finished work of the Cross of Christ, I have been eternally acquitted and stand before God as His very righteousness in Christ. I am completely and totally vindicated from every lie the enemy has conjured up, contrived and even inspired others to think or speak about me falsely. For I seek to go about always doing good, just as Jesus did when He walked this Earth. I choose to be about My Heavenly Father's business each and every day, In Jesus Name. Amen.

All forms of evil that have come against my life are hereby bound, thrown into continual confusion and cast down into the bottomless pit, never to rise again, in Jesus Name. All negative memories, triggers, pressure points and of the like are eradicated, erased and rendered permanently powerless and obsolete, in Jesus Name.
For I also declare that I am: healed, made whole, well, freed and liberated from any and all physical, emotional, mental and/or spiritual: afflictions, adversities, oppressions, harassments, torments and/or sicknesses, in Jesus Name. For by the bloody stripes that my precious Lord Jesus took upon His very back for me, I was healed! Amen. I loose, release and receive an atmosphere of healing power, grace, comfort, peace, solitude, rest, rejuvenation, strength, delight, tender mercy, enduring intimacies with God and even the pleasures that are at the Right Hand of my Lord Jesus, reserved for me. Hallelujah! Amen.

I loose and release the opposite of all of the darkness previously mentioned. The opposite of that now flows down upon, within and around my life, In Jesus Name. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are all loosed and released over, within and through my life continually, in Jesus Name. I loose and release the Glory of The Lord over my life, home, personal space, vehicle(s), work place and wherever I go throughout the course of each day and night. I declare that there is an open Heaven over my life and that my prayers are heard and attended to by The Lord, even as I walk with Him. I declare and decree that I shall lie down and my sleep will be sweet, in Jesus Name. For I am Godly because The Lord has made me so, and His word declares that The Godly shall never be disturbed (Proverbs 10:30 NLT). I bless every area of my life, my home and work place to be full of His perfect peace that passes understanding, joy unspeakable and full of glory, the love of God which surpasses all knowledge, and the eternal Hope of my salvation, in Jesus Name. The Kingdom of God: righteous, peace and joy, is that which I seek first and choose to walk in. I declare that grace and mercy follow close behind me all the days of my life and that I shall dwell in the House of the Lord Forever! I declare that I have the full armor of God on wherever I go, including: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, the shield of Faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of The Spirit, in Jesus Name. I loose and release a spirit of prayer and supplication within and around my life, that I may pray always without ceasing, with all manner of prayer in the Spirit, which makes tremendous power available to me, in Jesus Name. For I am filled with the Holy Spirit and His mighty power, according to His glorious might - in my inner man and I am therefore well able to fulfill my God-given destiny in Christ Jesus.

I call upon The Lord, even now, to loose and release His pure wisdom from Above to fill my life completely, causing me to be entirely wise in all my ways. I loose and release understanding, insight, knowledge, prudence, discretion, discernment, counsel, might and the fear of The Lord to be with me always, in Jesus Name. For He also gives His angels charge over me to guard me and keep me in all my ways. His glory is my rear guard according to (Isaiah 58:8 NKJV). And I declare and decree that I am a child of Light, son of the Day, with the body armor of Light upon me, as well as the armor of righteousness upon my right hand and left. I am covered and protected by the Blood of Jesus, the Grace of God, The Holy Spirit, The Word of God, The Righteousness of God, the Authority of my spiritual leaders and the Holy Angels of God Most High. I am blessed and cannot be cursed. I am the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath. I am more than a conqueror, I am an OVERCOMER, in Jesus Mighty Name and for His Glory alone! Hallelujah! Amen and amen.

There's Healing in Gilead!

Many believers whom have become ill for whatever the reason may be, are aware of healing scriptures, and a number of them choose to stand steadfast, immovable, unshakeable, on the Living Word of God until they were healed completely.

One of the most notable testimonies of this taking place was in life of Dodie Osteen, Co-Founder of Lakewood Church in Houston, Tx, widow of the late John Osteen who began the ministry many decades ago. Lakewood is the largest church in America and, as you may know, is now being Pastored by Joel & Victoria Osteen, John's son and daughter-in-law.

Joel has often told from the pulpit the story of how his mother somehow contracted or became ill with cancer many years ago. He has told, time and time again, that even though there was that initial shock, she and the family did not allow that to remain, but rather began a journey of faith that would truly become a legacy following her, as well as a powerful testimony! 

Dodie chose to get out her bible and look up and find every healing scripture, promise and testimony that she could find, so that she could confess and stand on before the Lord in faith, day and night, night and day, believing for her healing relentlessly, till finally the cancer gave way and she was miraculously healed! Her faith in the Healing Power of our Lord God, Jesus Christ made her WHOLE!

However, what many of you might not realize is that the very thing that Dodie chose to do was and still is the exact remedy that the scripture gives for healing, especially when medicines have failed and the ailment remains.

In Jeremiah 46:11 it says this:

"Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured."

What is hidden within this verse of scripture is truly remarkable. The word Gilead there in the original language, Hebrew, in its deepest root, means:

"A Heap of Testimony, Something rolled, Heap of stone, by Analogy a Spring of Water (plural waves) :- Billow, Heap, Spring, Wave."

The word Balm means: "to Crack [as by pressure], Hence to Leak; Distillation"

Brother, sister or friend, the word of God is filled with Testimonies of people being Healed by the Lord! This speaks of one taking up a HEAP of TESTIMONIES and Causing them to Billow Over Himself, To Receive like a Spring Unto Herself, To Allow Them to Wash Over Them like Waves...

"IN SUCH AN ENORMOUS MANNER THAT THEY "CRACK" AN OPENING & BRING FORTH HEALING INTO THOSE LIVES!"

This is exactly what Dodie Osteen did and was made whole, decades ago, and she remains cancer free, testifying to this very day! She also leads her own Prayer & Healing Service Every Tuesday Evening at Lakewood, where people come from all over to receive an impartation of healing from the Lord, through her life, that has been healed.

Can you see that this is by no means talking about taking a couple of scriptures and speaking them over oneself a couple times a day....?? 

NO! THIS IS LITERALLY SAYING TO RELENTLESSLY OVERWHELM OURSELVES WITH HEALING TESTIMONIES AND CRACK THAT SICKNESS OPEN WITH THE HEALING POWER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST UNTIL WE ARE COMPLETELY WHOLE AND MADE ENTIRELY WELL! 

From Hezekiah being told that he needed to get ready to die and then finding mercy from the Lord because he did not want to die yet, then receiving 15 more years of LIFE from the Lord; to Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, who finally obeyed the word of the Lord through the prophet Elisha and was HEALED of leprosy... 

THERE ARE VAST NUMBERS OF HEALING SCRIPTURES, PROMISES AND TESTIMONIES WITHIN THE WORD OF GOD FOR BOTH YOU AND I TO:

HEAP UPON OURSELVES, LET SPRING OVER US, LET THEM BE LIKE MIGHTY WAVES CRASHING INTO OUR SOUL'S OVER AND OVER AGAIN UNTIL THE CRACKING OF HEALING BALM OPENS IN FULLNESS!

THERE IS HEALING IN THE WORD OF GOD FOR YOU AND I RIGHT NOW!

And if one wanted to find something more recent, to help him or her believe that JESUS IS STILL HEALING TODAY, then all he or she needs to do is just search online for a little while and before long you will run into a TRUE TESTIMONY THAT YOU KNOW IN YOUR HEART OF HEART'S CANNOT BE DENIED! Ask people in your church, even, who have maybe not even testified of their healings yet or perhaps not testified of their multiple healings throughout their lives as of yet!

When the medicines of men fail, GILEAD HAS A BALM THAT WILL PREVAIL!

Grace & Peace to You,

Rev. Jason Kruse

For Christians Seeking to Marry

     There are hundreds of millions of people, maybe even into the billions, seeking to either marry or remarry at this point in time, probably like any other point in time. Yet the question is: “Where is the right woman for the man seeking a wife who is truly from the Lord?” “Where is the right man for the woman desiring of a husband who is entirely from the Lord?” These two questions plague the hearts of so many that instead of it being a bit intriguing, wondrous and somewhat of exciting learning an exploring experience, it becomes a burden, a hasty decision, a pursuit of what merely is the privilege of being married and other poor intentions, desires and motives.

However, if we were to take a look for a moment at something very profound in the word of God, hopefully those who are perplexed about finding “the one” will no longer be burdened but rather have a hopeful expectation that God knows exactly what He is doing.

In Genesis Chapter 1 it reads: “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God “He created him; male and female He created them.”

Notice for a moment that when the bible first speaks of God creating man, it does not speak of just ONE man, it clearly says “THEM” at the end of the passage. Yet it even speaks of how God created “Him,” each of the men, as individuals, as well to begin with. If you reread the passage once again it says that God created him (each man He created) “MALE AND FEMALE.” For in order for the man to be created in God’s own image, the man was created with both male and female nature at the very same time, within. God is Spirit and The Image of God is NOT just MALE, but also FEMALE as Well, Coexisting in Perfect Unity to be All of Who God Was, Is and Always Will be.

So there we have a group of however many men God created in the beginning, with the female portion of their being still intact within them.

However, as we continue to read on further it becomes very clear that there was no suitable helper to be found for the man among all of God’s creation and God said in Chapter 2 verse 18: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  

Now right before it speaks of God’s plan to make a helper comparable to the man, it says this in Verse 15: “Then the Lord took “the man” and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” Notice that formerly there was a plural, when it spoke: "God Creating He, him, male and female He created “THEM.” It reveals, once again, that in the beginning there were men who were each created individually as “Male and Female.” Yet it also reveals that God took one of those men, as His chosen one, to be put into the Garden of Eden in order to tend and keep it, along with the instructions given to him regarding the two trees in the Garden.

So now we move on to The Lord God’s plan (For now because relationship is introduced between God and one man, Moses is inspired by the Holy Spirit to change the written reference from God to The Lord God – Again, this being due to Having Relationship with a Man now). So The Lord God chooses to take one chosen man out of “the men” whom He created, names him Adam, and places him in a glorious garden where then The Lord God speaks that He will make the Helper whom Adam needed.

As you may know, The Lord God placed Adam into a deep sleep and removed one of Adam’s ribs and along with that rib, The Lord God also removed the female portion of Adam which remained within him since God first created him and then fashions Adam's rib into the Woman whom Adam sees and says: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called Woman; for she was taken out of Man.”

Adam clearly saw and identifies that the female portion of how he was initially made, which he spoke was even “flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones,” was taken out or removed from Him in order to be made by the Lord God and brought before him as the comparable helper that he needed, whom Adam later names: Eve.

You might be asking yourself: “How does this Relate to Me Finding: "The One?” Well, it just so happens that as time, even millenniums progressed and the bodies of men and women were studied, it became known that men have ONE LESS RIB than women do……..Which leads to the point……..

“When The Lord is Ready, The Woman for Each Man Who is Called to be Married, Will be Brought to Him by The Lord in Order to Restore His Missing Rib (or that Place That Only His Comparable Helper Can Fill)” -  As The Two Become: “ONE FLESH!”

There is no need to fear, fret, worry, or to get all hyped up about getting on those dating sites and even feeling the need  to go “speed dating”, “blind dating,” or any other means of trying to make it happen yourself in your own strength. The bible promises that The Lord will grant us the desires of our heart’s, as we delight ourselves in Him. There is a special key in what I just wrote…….Until the time when the Lord has already predetermined and predestined for that right man or that right woman for you to meet, fall in love with and marry comes, "Choose to Delight Yourself in The Lord."

The ability to be satisfied during and in the waiting process of how The Lord desires to bring about the marriage relationship, is by leaning on, relying upon, delighting in and being caught up in your relationship with Him. His grace is more than sufficient, so long as each person chooses to make the proper amount of time for being in and maintaining relationship with the Lord in order for that precious grace to be found and received.

“For All the Promises of God, in Him, are Yes and Amen” (2 Cor 1:20) & “The Promises of God are inherited through Faith & Patience.”(Heb 6:12)

Everything that any man or woman needs to sustain his or herself before marrying or perhaps before remarrying, in certain cases, is found in Christ Jesus and in Him alone, through His Holy Spirit Dwelling within Each Believer.

Likewise, there is only thing that any man or woman needs to do in order to finally find the one who was already chosen by the Lord for him or her before they were even born. That thing is to simply wait upon and be obedient to the Lord in a close, personal relationship & friendship with Him. This is something that the Holy Spirit is more than capable of empowering each and every believer to do and to have.

Trust Him…He Always Knows Best & Always Has Our Best Interests in His Heart, Mind & Plan!

Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Amen and amen.

Troubles

     It is a word well known and felt deeply within my own life, personally. How about you? Have you had so many troubles that you cannot even begin to describe the enormity of them all? Well if so, keep reading because I hope to offer you some comfort, grace and help, through the Holy Spirit.

    I truly believe that everything we deal with is "Father-Filtered." In other words, there is nothing that comes our way unless it is either ordered of God or allowed by God to come into our lives. So with that being said, we do know, and hopefully we all believe, that God our Heavenly Father surely does loves us so very deeply, even to the point of giving the very life of His Own Biological Son on the cross for the penalty of all of our sins. He does love us more than we can even conceive, and I think that it is because of the fact that we often have such limited mindsets about His love for us, that we wonder how such awful things could be taking place, over and over again and sometimes with little relief, help, encouragement or comfort to even feel from Him. I can honestly say for myself in these times, when I am hurting so desperately, and I am earnestly looking for God's grace, presence, peace, comfort, joy, light and tenderness, that sometimes there are "delays" in being able to "feel" those precious Godly emotions. Why? Well maybe one reason is so that I will pour all the more of myself out to Him, breaking down into the the tiniest pieces before Him in order for there to ultimately be a tremendous, unending intimacy with Him that I could never have been able to enter into, had He not delayed my ability to feel His wonderful presence as much as I felt I truly needed it at the time. 

   You see, often times, we will get comfortable in His precious presence and He allows us to move and live and have our being within it for our enjoyment and satisfaction. Yet if because we are truly sensing His presence and maybe tend to ease off in our diligent seeking of Him, there may in fact be a need for Him to withdraw a measure of it so that we will realize how just how precious and vital His presence really is. However, it also may not even be because we eased off of seeking Him, but rather because we are pressing in so deeply that He may see that if He does not withdraw the realm of His presence we are currently abiding in then we may not have room to even contain the far greater realm of His presence that we are pressing into Him for.

    Whatever the case may be or whatever God's reasons may be for allowing many troubles into our lives, the promise of His surely does stand true that, we as "the righteous fall into many troubles, but the Lord delivers him out of them all!" I can also honestly say that this promise of His has been ever-faithful in my life as well. God is causing all that you and I are going through to work together for our good and it is important for us to keep these little, which may in fact be really "big" promises (in those tough moments) in our heart's and mind's so that we will remain in a place of faith and hope. Our Father understands infinitely more than anyone could ever understand what you and I deal with and how much we can handle. So do not give into the mindset that somehow something may come along that will conquer you. ABSOLUTELY NOT! "He always causes us to walk in triumphant procession in Christ Jesus," "We are more than conquerors through Him Who loves us," and "No weapon formed against us shall prosper." We have got angels who have been given charge over us to guard us and keep us in all of our ways. We are surrounded by the favor of God, as with a shield and we are lights shining against the darkness that has to FLEE! In Jesus Name! "He Who is in us is FAR GREATER than he who may be against us." It does not matter how many of the demonic forces or demonized people there are that may be against, we the people of God. For the Lord Himself, by His Spirit, in just "ONE" of us is "GREATER" than all of they who are in the world. Believe it! Count on it and stand on it with me, in Jesus Name! 

     

     We will come through our troubles and sense the glorious presence of our Loving Heavenly Father once again..... 

Now Take Heart and be of Good Courage, for the Lord thy God is With You! Amen and Amen.

God bless you,

Rev. Jason 

Motivation to Pray

The reality is that we as believers, whom have truly called upon the Lord for salvation and have experienced the infilling of His Holy Spirit to where we have witness that we are indeed children of God ---- we WANT to pray! Oh we surely do, because it is an unceasing desire constantly emanating from our spirit, deep within. Yet so many of us seem to just be hitters and missers when it comes right down to it. We cannot truly say that we, without a doubt have an effective prayer life according to how God's word says we ought to have it.

So what is the answer to this epidemic problem among the people of God? I know that there is one most "simple" answer that it will almost fly right by you if you do not stop and really take a "selah" moment and meditate about it. This is a simple answer, but there is a very big difference between simple and "easy." It is not necessarily and easy answer until the point that I will get to in just a moment.

The simple answer is that our heart is where we begin to engage with God in prayer. In the outer realms of the soul, towards the body and flesh, there is the place of the "outer court" where there is no sense or awareness of God's presence at all. Sometimes we feel close to that area and it is a dry and weary place full of desolation and vulnerability to enemy invasion.....Not a place to seek to draw near to, because there is ZERO motivation to pray in this place.

Yet also, within the sphere of our heart of heart's there is the inner court, where the general sense of God's presence can be felt and where we will also find the vast majority of God's people lingering, because it is an easy place to just hang out and just be status quo within God's Kingdom, praying here and there and feeling "ok" about it.... Yet never DEEPLY satisfied within. In this place there are many distractions because this is where most people are lingering and if we happen to be there too, we will eventually get caught up in distractions as well, which will keep us from drawing closer to the One Whom we truly seek to reach deeply with in a place of prayer. Prayer is often littered in the inner court. It tends to be tainted with other things(motivations, desires, lusts, etc.) because there is so much activity around and the purity of our prayers offered to God in that place are not easy to come by.

However, if through a persistent and an even aggressively focused effort on our part, to press past all of the distractions in the inner court, as we pray in the Holy Spirit, and tune out EVERYTHING ELSE, except HIS PRESENCE and SEEK to PULL and PRESS, more and more into HIS PRESENCE, we will find our hearts finally reaching the HOLY PLACE, where we can then FINALLY be in an undistracted, unhindered realm within our being, in the Lord's presence, where we then have the capacity to begin to deal with the issues of our heart's before the Lord in: love, peace, grace, simplicity, focus, repentance, forgiveness, cleansing, purification, purging, washing and ultimately sanctification to the fullest. This is the place where, through persistence in praying in the Holy Spirit(our Heavenly language), we are now able to pray with so much more of an ease and even gain a great desire to continue praying and meditating upon and within His wonderful presence. The key is: "the more we force ourselves to pray through all of that which is trying to distract us from doing such and drawing closer to God, the more easy it will become to do so, and even to maintain doing so." Yet there is a key word there which is "maintain." We MUST maintain holding the ground we gained, within our own beings, so that we can in turn remain closer to the Lord and His Glorious Presence, where prayer is an enjoyable delight to offer to the One Whom we love so dearly.

Once we have reached the point where the Lord is truly satisfied with our level of sanctification and consecration unto Him, there will come the point where we are then allowed to move from the Holy Place into the MOST HOLY PLACE, where the VERY GLORY OF GOD DWELLS, united with our spirit and where it is impossible for any kind of any sort of evil to enter into. This is a place that very few find in this life on Earth, because of how much self sacrifice that is required. If we find ourselves fortunate enough to be able to enter into that place, the encounter experienced is eternally changing for the utmost of the better and we emerge from that place SO INCREDIBLY MUCH MORE like Christ, because we were able to Behold Him IN HIS GLORY! It changes us immensely! This is truly an amazing and even staggering area to meditate upon before the Lord.

So as you receive this message and engage with it by applying it, you will most assuredly find the place you have been longing to reach with the Lord in prayer, which will be determined by how far you are willing to go!

God bless you this day,

Rev. Jason 

Greetings to you today,

I hope that you are well and enjoying the presence of our Father today. There is a little message that I shared a while back which I felt impressed to share here:

     "Children Are Carefree.....Are You?"

     You know, whenever you see children, you do not see them all caught up with their: schedules, their appointments, their bills, their relationship issues. You never see any of that, do you? Well, we were commanded by the Lord to come to Him and be humble as little children are. He went on to say that whoever did not become as a little child would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Wow! Do we happen to think that Jesus was kidding when He said this? I don't think so. So what keeps us from being more like children in their: humility, awe and wonder, trusting nature and joy and excitement? I believe that it comes down to the 2 nasty words that we all hate, but cannot seem to entirely get rid of: Pride and Fear. They are on the flip-side of one coin. Much of the time, if we are not in fear, then we are in pride. Yet children tend to be constantly in the "safe zone" of Love. Love has no fear and is not proud. If we desire to be more childlike (obviously not "childish") then we need to simply focus on how children deal with things. First of all, it would not hurt any of us to watch children for awhile, somewhere, and see how they operate and try to imitate their wonderful little dynamics. Grown-up's probably need to take more lessons from children, now-a-days, then children do from grown-up's. We seem to always want children to "grow up" and even when we, ourselves were children, there was this desire within so many of us to grow up so fast, which came very often to many of us. Fortunately for some of us as children, we were encouraged to enjoy our youth and not to try and grow up too fast. Yet others were pretty much forced to grow up far too soon, and are probably now paying the price for it, years later, with multiple emotional/mental problems and difficulties. 

     Worry seems to be one of those chronic problems that plagues almost every adult. So how do we get rid of worry and cares? The word of God in 1 Peter 5, says: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time; casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." So there we have it: We have got to "cast our cares upon Him" in order to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. As we do this, God releases His GRACE unto our humility, which we need so very much from Him. This is how little children operate as well. If they have some type of problem that is too much for them to handle, they always bring it to their parent, and the parent takes care of it, because the parent cares for the little one. How much more our Heavenly Father? Let's bring our cares to God, by faith, and drop them off with Him. Then we can receive His grace, joy and peace in exchange. Sometimes you just need to voice it out loud as well, by faith, in order to experience it."Father, I give you this care of.........right now and I ask you to keep it away from me. I thank You for desiring to take it from me because You care for me so very much. Amen."

     I think that you can probably take this short little message from here and really go with it in whatever direction you know you need to. Yet be sure to not put it off as "not too important right now." Because, I do not know about you, but ANYTHING that the Lord says will "keep one from entering into Heaven," is worthy of constant consideration and focus.This is one of them......

May the Lord give you the ability to become as a little child again,

Rev. Jason Kruse

Betrayed

The Reality

     

     It's an ugly word isn't it? Speaking from various personal experiences, even with others just betraying either confidences or things previously agreed upon in a serious manner, without any regard for a proper release from them, the reality is; these hurtful scenarios are taking place more often than not these days. Have you had some betrayals of your own which have hurt you deeply also? Well, my objective here is not to dive into bitter experiences, but rather to bring some helpful insights and wisdom to this world-wide epidemic.

                                            

                                                                        Your Not Alone

     

       One important thing to realize is that you are not alone and you and I are also not immune to betraying others either. Yet the person being betrayed is always the one who is hurt the soonest and much of the time with a far greater impact than those who do the betraying. For Jesus, His betrayer caused Him an incomprehensible amount of suffering and agony, which was even foretold. Yet the one who betrayed Jesus is paying the price and is now in infinitely worse shape than Jesus could ever be. This was partially rooted in some very poor choices that the betrayer made. First of all, he was greedy, loved money and was a thief. If that is not enough, then he had a serious problem with a Loving, Pure, Holy and Perfect Authority Figure, Who proved Himself to be GOD, time and time again, right before his face. Yet all of this still had no bearing upon the fatal choice he ultimately made to betray the Son of Man and seal his doom, as Jesus foretold. The point being that even if the person walks and talks with you, eats and drinks with you, shares in practically your entire ministry and is mixed in with many others who are in fact loyal, all because of even your own choice to bring him or her into your life; that same person can end up causing your life extreme trouble, heartbreak, and in some cases far worse. The bible is clear in Amos that we as God's people should not put ANY trust "IN" a man or woman. Now this does not mean that we should not delegate trust "TO" other people, but it does mean that since God is the Only One Who knows the hearts of men and women, we must never allow our trust to be placed in a man or woman and expect from them only what GOD can give us. The Lord spoke this in His word to save His people and probably anyone who would listen, a great deal of heartbreak. Even in the gospel of John, it speaks clearly in Chapter 2 Verse 24 (NKJV) "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,  and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man." So if Jesus did not commit or entrust Himself unto those around about Him, then it gives us a pretty clear indication that we should not entrust ourselves or commit ourselves unto anyone but Him(GOD). Keep in mind, though, that even though Jesus did not entrust or commit Himself unto men, He did delegate measures of trust to His disciples and others, even the one He knew would ultimately betray Him, by allowing  Judas to cast out demons and heal the sick on Jesus' behalf. 

                                                                   Trust Delegated

    

     The trust Jesus delegated was indeed measured out to certain individuals more than it was to others. For Jesus only allowed 3 of His disciples to come up on top of the Mountain with Him while He was transfigured and then commanded them not to tell the others of what had taken place up there until much later. Moses allowed Joshua to come up to a certain point on the Mountain where he needed to wait, while Moses went to the top to meet with God, face to Face. David measured out a wonderful portion of his love and trust to his beloved friend Jonathan, whose father betrayed David badly and it might have even saved David's life in doing so. 

     

                                                                   Boundary Line

      

     There is a boundary line which we all have the choice of either keeping in place or allowing others to cross. The boundary is delegating trust to others on one side and placing it in them on the other. Obviously, we can see here which side we need to remain on. It seems to be that many of us have been raised to trust very easily and end up allowing others to cross the line rather easily as well. At the same time, many were raised in the opposite manner, not allowing themselves to trust anyone for any reason. When I say "trust" it means: delegation. It's a choice when most are old enough to reason and not an involuntary action required to make in order to survive, when we were babies. Still other people grew up in moderation and have been taught many lessons from the school of life and trusting is something that may come natural in certain situations with certain people, but discernment has been developed and by reason of use, many have had their senses trained to distinguish good from evil, like the book of Hebrews speaks of in Chapter 5, verse 14. So for these people, trusting is an art which must be carefully exercised, and frankly, this is the class of people whom I have the greatest regard for. The bible is full of wisdom if we will take enough time to not only read it, but to consider and meditate(ponder, go over, rehearse, study out, look deeper into and give much thought) upon it long enough for the Holy Spirit to take what is in our minds and illuminate it so that it becomes revelation in our hearts, which we can utilize and live by.

                                 

                                                              Dealing with Betrayal

     It's never fun to have to deal with a betrayal, but sooner hopefully than later, we must give attention to what has taken place and seek to at least rectify the matter on our end, if we are going to remain well, healed and whole. So here are some things you can focus on when dealing with either a sudden or even a foreseen betrayal:

                                         

                                                                Ways to Deal with It

     

     1. Seek God about it first and foremost with prayer, because the Lord can give us more in just a few minutes of seeking Him, then we could ever come up with on our own. He is loving, compassionate and tenderhearted and can bring: peace, comfort and healing, as He helps us to deal with it,  far better than if we were to try and "go it alone."

     2. Understand that this can come from any man or woman on Earth, no matter who it is (relative, husband, wife, friends, co-workers). If you realize that it "could," and not necessarily that it "will"(thereby expecting it) take place at any point in your life, then at least you will not be "surprised" by it and probably avoid being so greatly devastated by it, even long term.

     3. Remember that we are not immune to betraying others either. So a little understanding and some grace and mercy toward the betrayer may go a long way in these matters.

     4. Take some time away from the person, even if the person is just in the other room, until you are calm enough to properly assess the damage and determine how bad it "truly" was and all of whom and what it affects, BEFORE you just go back in there and confront the person about it. This "evaluation time" may save you endless arguing and backbites both in the short term and long term.

     5. Ask yourself if you have actually placed your trust "in" the person and if you were setting yourself up for what took place all along? Because again, frankly: "people are people and if its pure human, it WILL fail at some point in various ways."

     6. If you have been allowing others to cross the "delegation" vs. "placing in" trust boundary, then firmly decide which way you want to live. Then you will be far more ready and able to prudently predict much of the consequences, outcomes and happenings of your relationships. If you are choosing to remain on the fence, not giving it any thought and being aloof and ignorant to it, as an everyday thing taking place all over the world,(just as Jesus also foretold), then you are choosing to be like an undefended target that can be seriously bombarded.

     7. Once a betrayal has taken place, only dwell on it long enough to thoroughly understand what actually took place and to seek your course of action in a wise manner. Do NOT continue dwelling on it after you have dealt with the issue properly and become bitter over it. Bitterness is defiling and like a virus and it can easily spread out to others wherever one goes. The bible speaks of us needing to avoid bitter roots from springing up and thus "defiling" many.

         

                                                                        Conclusion       

    

     I truly hope this has helped you to maybe understand this subject a little more or better and to hopefully deal with and/or avoid as much betrayal as possible.

God bless you,

Rev. Jason Kruse