Jesus – Hope for Complete Healing

Using the Power of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever felt the Holy Spirit come on you? If not, I will explain at the end how you can. If yes, do you feel the power of the Holy Spirit in you? Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus said this just before He ascended into heaven. The Spirit came on about 100 believers in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. Do you believe the Holy Spirit comes on people today? You can also receive the Holy Spirit into your heart or inner being (Eph. 3:16-17). When you do this, you are also receiving Jesus Christ and the Father, because they are all one Spirit.

Need Power to Fulfill the Great Commission.

Jesus’ commission to all His disciples before He ascended into heaven was “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20).” The Father sent the Holy Spirit on all who believe in Jesus Christ, so they would have power to carry out this commission (John 14:26; 15:26). You don’t have to go to a foreign country to carry out this commission. You can be His witness wherever you are. The question is, are you employing the power given to you by the Holy Spirit to witness to the lost in your neighborhood? If you lack the power of the Holy Spirit to witness, then ask Him to give you power, and He will. If you are fearful, then ask God to take your fear and give you faith and love for the lost (2Tim. 1:7).

Need Power to Make Disciples.

Jesus wants us to make disciples, not just converts. A disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ. If you are a parent, you can teach your children to be disciples of Jesus. You can lead a student Bible study at your local college or high school. You can go into the local jail to lead a Bible study to make disciples. You can work for Child Evangelism Fellowship to teach Good News Clubs about Jesus and how to be a disciple. When you witness through the power of the Holy Spirit, that power then works in the person you witness to. But following Jesus isn’t easy, so you need the Holy Spirit’s power to be a disciple and obey His law of love for Him and others. You can read all my posts about the power of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Warfare Posts.

What is Your Witness About?

The Apostle John explains in 1John 4:14-15, “ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” Your witness is about Jesus and what He has done for you and what He can do for the person you are witnessing to.

John the Baptist bore witness that Jesus was the light and the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:7-8, 15, 32, 34). He also bore witness to the truth (John 5:33). You also bear witness to the truth of God and the light of Jesus. When we believe and walk with Jesus, we won’t walk in the dark anymore (John 8:12; 12:46; Acts 26:18; Eph 5:8; 1John 2:9).

Jesus’ works bear witness. John 5:36-37 states, “But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37) And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen.” Also read John 10:25-30. The work of the Holy Spirit to transform your life is a witness to the work of Jesus Christ in your life.

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit gives you the literal power of God to be a witness for Jesus, no matter where you are or who you’re talking to.
The “Great Commission” isn’t just for missionaries; you can make disciples in your own neighborhood, at school, or even through local community programs.
It’s about more than just getting people to say “yes” to Jesus—it’s about helping them become actual followers who learn and grow.
Your witness is simply telling the truth about who Jesus is and sharing the way He has personally transformed your life.
A great way to start is by preparing a quick 3-minute testimony: share what your life was like before Jesus (no graphic details), how you met Him, and the difference He’s made since then.

If you were a child when you believed, your testimony could be something like this. “Before I believed in Jesus, I was dead in my sins because I was self-centered and disobedient. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 and 6:23 that all have sinned and sin leads to death, which is separation from God. But God loved me and sent His Son, Jesus, to die and pay the penalty for my disobedience (John 3:16). When I believed and received Him into my heart (John 1:12), I was forgiven of my sins (Eph 1:7) and became free from my sinful desires (Rom 6:22). I became a child of God and I know I will spend eternity in heaven. Would you like to spend eternity in heaven?”

My 3-minute testimony. “I was a sad, insecure, withdrawn little girl before I met Jesus. When I heard about how much God loved me, and that I could receive Jesus and all His love into my heart, I put my faith in Him. Afterward, I felt His presence and love, and I knew I wasn’t alone. I came out of my withdrawn state, but felt anger about all the abuse and injustice in my home. My faith journey sustained me through many ups and downs until I fully submitted my life to God and followed Him with all my heart in my early 20s. Now I enjoy freedom from all the pain of my past. Would you like to receive God’s love and freedom from pain and sadness?”

I pray you are blessed and encouraged.

“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love (2John 1:3).”

You can read all my posts about the power of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Warfare Posts.

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of relevant promises to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles. my post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book. Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

How to Overcome Fear and Anxiety

Have you ever been afraid? Did you feel anxious about doing something new, or speaking to a group of people? Fear is a normal reaction to the unknown. Sometimes our imaginations can generate fear. Say if you meet a bear or mountain lion, you may be scared.

Many people have anxiety disorders, which cause panic attacks when a trauma memory is triggered. This is different than being afraid to speak in front of people or go to a job interview. I overcame fear by changing my thinking. I overcame my anxiety disorder by healing and changing my trauma memories. I also relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to help me take my thoughts captive and transform them with the truth of God’s word. I knew I was free from fear and anxiety when I went to Africa.

How I Overcame My Fear.

I just came back from a 17-day trip to Africa, and I was not overcome by fear, nor did I have any panic attacks. In contrast, when I went to Israel eight years ago, I had to take anxiety medication. I chose Genexa, which is an all-natural chewable pill that worked great to help me relax. I was very fearful because my thoughts would conjure up all kinds of events that would never happen, but what if they did? This time, when I went to Africa, I practiced what I wrote about in Who or What Controls You? When I would begin to entertain fearful thoughts, I would take them captive by

Acknowledging them,

Putting them out of my mind in Jesus’ name,

Then think or speak the truth to replace fear with trust.

For example, when the flight over was turbulent for 15 hours, I prayed and kept my mind on the power and protection of God. I pushed away fearful thoughts of crashing into the ocean and centered on trusting God. I imagined that angels were flying with that flight to make sure the plane didn’t split apart from all the turbulence. I maintained my peace and did not have to take my anxiety medicine. I realized I was still internalizing anxiety because I could not urinate for the whole flight, so by the time I got to Cape Town, I was in excruciating pain. It took a while to get to the bathroom at the airport, which also caused some anxiety, but I did not panic.

The next piece of evidence that I had overcome anxiety was when we got a flat tire on the safari through Etosha, Namibia’s National Wildlife Park. It included lions and other predator animals, and you were told not to exit your vehicle. We all had to get out of the car to help lift the car to get the jack under it, which was a sandy road. My husband was the only strong person, as our hosts were 81 and 77, respectively. Then there was me, who was not much help. I asked, is it safe to get out of the car? Our host was driving his son’s vehicle and did not know how to get to the spare tire. Thankfully, he had a satellite phone and could call his son. We finally got back on the road, and not even a mile down the road was a herd of elephants. I got afraid when a hippo chased our fishing boat on the Okavango River. The captain assured me that he was just playing with us, then told the story of a hippo that bit the side of his boat and nearly sank it. I had many opportunities to trust God instead of being fearful. Do you find it hard to trust God? Why?

Overcoming Anxiety

Anxiety is situational fear. Many people are disabled because of situational fear or must take medication to stay calm. People say they can’t go to church because they get anxiety around a group of people. You don’t have to be anxious about anything when you pray about everything. Anxiety usually is the result of a bad experience or a traumatic event. For example, when you have an accident, you may be anxious every time you get into a car or pass the place where the accident happened. The level of anxiety depends on how much emotion was stored related to the painful event. Or, how much fear is stored related to the event. Freedom from anxiety occurs when you seek God to heal the emotional response and change the negative experience by being thankful for something. So, when you have a panic attack, do the following.

Ask God to show you why you had the panic attack.

Forgive the people who caused you pain to remove the power they have over your reactions.

Ask God to remove the negative emotion of the memory from your Hippocampus.

Implant a thankful thought into that memory to remove the trigger. You can be thankful it wasn’t worse, or you weren’t alone, or that God rescued and healed you, etc.

Transform the unhealthy beliefs you adopted because of the painful event with a Biblical truth. See my worksheets for truth samples you can adopt.

Most people know Philippians 4:6-7, which states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 )And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Prayer and thankfulness are necessary to achieve the peace we desperately desire. Prayer is a humble submission of trust that God keeps what you commit to Him. That He is able to protect and provide for you, to answer prayer, and so on. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 also tells us to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Conclusion

I was paralyzed by fear and anxiety for many years. I can assure you that you don’t have to be paralyzed by fear or anxiety. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, fearful thoughts can be replaced by trusting God, who keeps His promises. Anxiety-inducing memories can be healed and replaced with thankfulness and the truth in God’s word that helps you trust Him. If you have a problem with fearful thoughts or situational anxiety, there is hope. I give many practical tips on how to be an overcomer in my book, which is found on my website. You can also read my posts on the power of thoughts and on trusting God.

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My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of relevant promises to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles. My post called Breaking Mental Strongholds Book. Also, check out Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. To learn more about this book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

How to Increase Emotional Intelligence

So, what does emotional intelligence and complete healing look like? I discovered that complete healing encompasses three key areas of your life: mental, physical, and spiritual. These three areas affect your level of emotional intelligence. (I had to take a break from blogging because I broke my hand and couldn’t type.)

Emotional intelligence is your ability to make a thoughtful, healthy choice about how you respond to a stressful situation rather than reacting. I am a reactor because that is how I was conditioned in my formative, dysfunctional home life. I am learning to respond by taking my reactive thoughts captive, setting them aside, and choosing to respond according to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 22-23). Are you a reactor or a responder? Do you respond with thankfulness or complaining? Do you respond with grace or anger? Do you respond with love or hate, malice, or scoffing? Do you respond with humility or pridefulness?

My blog focuses on achieving complete healing in the three key areas of your life so you can respond with love and a sound mind to stressful situations. Stress can range from stubbing your toe to facing a cancer diagnosis. I determined that spiritual health is the key to physical and mental health. Spirituality is the third dimension of each human being. In the last 13 posts, I explained how to recognize your spiritual adversary (i.e., the devil and demons). The unseen spirit world attacks you spiritually, physically, and mentally, so being spiritually healthy mitigates these attacks. Your spiritual health also determines how you respond to stressful situations.

A Healthy Spiritual Life.

1. A healed spiritual life begins with believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior, who saves you from the wrath of God for sin and the devil’s control. (Rom. 10:9-10; Rom. 5:9-11; Col. 2:8-10).

2. Repent of your sins (Luke 13:3&5; Acts 3:19, 26:20; Rom. 6).

3. Accept the help of the Holy Spirit to forgive and love others well, which is proof of a healthy soul (Eph. 3:16-19; Col. 3:12-16; and 1Pet. 1:22).

4. Trust God as your healer, provider, and protector (Ex. 15:26; Ps. 68:5; Phil. 4:19).

5. Put off your old way of thinking, which leads to sinful behavior (Eph. 4:22-27).

6. Focus on God’s truth, love, joy, peace, forgiveness, faithfulness, humility, and so on; then those traits will also become yours (1Tim. 6:11 and 2Tim. 2:22).

7. Show mercy and grace by forgiving those who hurt and offend you (Matt. 6:14-15).

8. You cannot be spiritually, mentally, or physically healthy if you are bitter, prideful, and unthankful (Heb. 12:15; 1John 2:16; and 2Tim. 3:1-5).

9. Read your Bible, go to church, pray, and work through the painful issues of your life so you can love from a pure heart (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1; Heb. 10:24-25; 2Cor. 7:1; 1Pet. 1:22).

10. Spiritual health is evident in humility, complete surrender to God, drawing near to Him, and repenting of sin (James 4:6-8). Submission to Him means obeying Him and resisting the devil, who wants to keep you in bondage to bitterness, pridefulness, and complaining.

A spiritually healthy prayer life supports sound mental health. Especially when you submit your painful memories to God for healing and forgive those who sinned against you. Without God, your memories won’t be healed. Painful memories negatively affect your mental and physical health, which lowers your emotional intelligence because you react from your pain. You can learn to manage your emotions from the pain of your past, but they will still cause you to react negatively instead of responding positively to stressful or painful situations. Also, Satan cannot read your mind, but he knows what you say and will use the negative experiences you complain about to keep you in bondage to offense, which lowers your emotional intelligence.

For example, I have a family member who has a lot of mental and physical health problems. She hasn’t purified her heart from the trauma of her past, and she is still bitter and prideful. Her trauma memories prevent her from being spiritually healthy, which is evident in the quality of the fruit of the Spirit in her life and reactions (Gal. 5:22-25).

How Does a Healthy Person Respond?

A completely healthy person values themselves and others, and their emotional intelligence will reflect that. They’re going to care for themselves physically by eating well and exercising. Next, they receive God’s forgiveness and love, so they can love themselves, love and forgive others well. If you don’t love yourself and take care of yourself, you can’t love others. But if you have a lot of traumas in your past where people did not love you well, it will affect how you respond. So, you need to deal with the trauma of your past through God’s healing power and love. For you to respond with love, you must receive His forgiveness of your sins and His mercy and grace; then you can give His love, His mercy, and His grace to others. Who has offended you or hurt you? Understand that they may be acting out of their own trauma and pain in their life. Or they may be reacting from their sinful flesh. Spiritually healthy people forgive and show mercy.

In 2025, I discussed various mental health issues and ways to improve them. You will find those posts on my mental health page. I later discovered that physical health and mental health are related to your gut health (see Dr. Mark Hyman podcast). My physical and mental health improved greatly when I gave up sugar, corn, most wheat products, and began eating God’s way in Genesis 1:29, “And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” These are recognizable foods in their whole form and not highly processed. Exercising regularly and fasting are also good for improving both physical and mental health. You can learn more in my post, Healing Depression: The Role of Gut Health and Diet.

Conclusion

The devil is constantly waiting to distract you and to cause you to be offended at God or others. Satan wants you to give up your faith and walk away from him or be offended at the church and people who go to church. And that’s why I just wrote a series on how the devil and demons interact with humans. You can read all these posts on my Spiritual Warfare Posts page. Spiritually healthy people understand the spirit world and how it affects their mental and physical health. Emotional intelligence depends on strong spiritual health. Praying through a stressful situation helps you respond with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) instead of reacting from your sinful flesh or painful memories. Are you spiritually healthy?

Does this make sense? If not, please comment below on what does not make sense, so I can clarify it.

RELATED POSTS

Are you Spiritually Healthy?

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of relevant promises to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

How Does The Devil Scheme Against You?

So, how are we caught in the devil’s schemes? Do you believe you can’t be deceived by the devil? You learned in my previous posts that even Jesus’ disciples were deceived. Deception is to mislead and appear to be true, but it is not. How do you know if you are being deceived by an evil spirit you do not see?

The anatomy of deception or temptation.

This post contains excerpts from my book, Fighting Unseen Battles. In my last post, I explained how temptations open us up to do the devil’s will through our thoughts. Thankfully, we can take every thought captive and submit them to God. Satan’s deceptions follow the same strategy, so let’s look at the first temptation pattern in Genesis chapter three:

Satan tempts Eve to doubt and question God’s words and motives when He asked her in Genesis 3:1, “Did God actually say?” And then in verse four, Satan says, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” His suggestion creates the thought that God was withholding something good from her. Temptations are lies that generate false beliefs.

The forbidden object looks enticing: “saw that the tree was good for food” (Genesis 3:6).

She desired to disobey and eat the fruit: “and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6).

She believed the lie that she would be like God, which created pride: “the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6).

She acted on the lure to disobey God and sin: “she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband” (Genesis 3:6).

Consequence of falling into Satan’s temptation to sin.

Ever since Adam and Eve lost in the first encounter of deception with the devil, we have struggled with a sinful nature. Sin is doing evil when we forsake God and disobey His loving, protective commands (2Chr. 12:14; Jer. 2:19). Sin has consequences. James1:14-15 explains, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15) Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” The Bible says you are dead in your sin (Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13a; Rom. 5:10, 6:23, 8:10). Dead means no life, no energy, and no growth, like a branch cut off from a tree. Dead is how you feel when you sin; you may become fearful, depressed, and feel purposeless and devoid of hope and life. Shame and guilt are also consequences of sin.

How to master our thoughts.

Cain became angry and wanted to kill Abel. God spoke to Cain in Genesis 4:7 and said, “Sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is toward you, but you must rule over it.” God is telling Cain to rule over or master his thoughts of anger and jealousy, but he did not and killed his brother Abel. Sin begins as a thought that leads to desire, so God uses the image of crouching to show how sin is waiting to control our thoughts. We are to master all our thoughts and make them obey God’s commands. Namely, to love Him and to love others.

Cain was angry because Abel’s offering was accepted by God, and his wasn’t. Anger is not a sin because God also gets angry, yet He is perfect (Num. 22:22; Judg. 2:12; Rev. 14:10). According to Webster’s dictionary, anger is a feeling that may result from injury, mistreatment, opposition, and so on.

Is anger a sin or an indication of something being wrong?

Our anger indicates that we are offended by a perceived unfairness or unmet expectation. The term offended, according to Webster’s dictionary, means to feel irritated, annoyed, or displeased because of someone’s sin, negligence, or disregard. Ephesians 4:26–27 states, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” We sin when our anger causes us to retaliate against the person who hurt us, by returning an evil for an evil or an insult for an insult (Rom. 12:17; 1Thes. 5:15). The devil tempts us to act on our anger and to sin against another person, but don’t give him that opportunity; take your thought captive.

The Bible says we are to do what is good and honorable to everyone, even those who hurt us (Rom. 12:17). 1Peter 3:9 even says, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” God wants us to rule over anger and not let it rule us, but to bless those who offend us or do evil to us, which is hard to do on our own. Through our fleshly desire, we are tempted to retaliate and make the person pay for hurting us. God said we are to forgive and live in peace with everyone as far as it depends on us.

Conclusion

Everyone is susceptible to being deceived by the devil. Remember, he roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, so be watchful and stand firm in your faith (1Peter 5:8-9a). You are in a spiritual war that is full of offenses and deceptions that lure you into sin and spiritual death (Eph. 6:12). Every day, you need to put on the full armor of God. You can take every thought captive and make it obey God (2Cor. 10:5). Knowing what the Bible says is necessary to know the truth, so you know when you are being tempted to sin and do evil. If you do fall into temptation and sin, immediately turn back to God and seek His forgiveness. 1John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Don’t let Satan deceive you that you cannot be forgiven and made right with God. Take all thoughts of guilt and shame captive and command them to be gone, and tell yourself that you are forgiven and a new creation in Christ Jesus.

If you are interested in knowing more about this topic, I encourage you to get my book, Fighting Unseen Battles.

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

FIVE WAYS TO FIGHT THE DEVIL SUCCESSFULLY

Do you know people who make life difficult for you or others? Have you struggled with an argumentative person? I have. Have you considered that Satan is influencing you and those around you? Sometimes I am influenced by Satan when my mind does not resist him, and I am not submitting to God. When that happens, I become selfish, want my way, and am easily offended and unforgiving. A Scriptural example is found in Mark 8. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, but when Jesus tells him that He will die and be raised up again, Peter protests. In verse 33, Jesus then rebukes him, saying, “‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’”

The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 3:1-3, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Ephesians 6:12 states, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” This verse explains the levels or ranks of demons. Remember, if you or others do not submit your minds to think on the things of God, you are also not resisting the devil’s influence on your life.

The last post described how believers respond to demons who afflict them and also to being set free. I described four responses:

a) Stand firm in your faith.

b) Be devoted and fully submitted to God when you are set free.

c) Do nothing, then the demon returns with more demons.

d) Be thankful and know that God’s grace will help you deal with the affliction, and His power is great in our weakness.

In this post, we will study Ephesians 6:10-18 and learn five more ways to respond to the devil. I will not go into great detail, but if you are interested in learning more, please check out the series of posts I wrote on spiritual warfare on the Spiritual Warfare Posts page.

1–Be Strong Through Jesus Christ.

10) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Observation: We are to be strong in the Lord, not ourselves, and not in anyone or anything else. We can only be strong in God’s strength and in His might.

Interpretation and Application: We can only be strong when we are in the Lord; that is, when our minds are set on Him. We cannot fight against evil spirit forces in our own strength, which is why we must be fully submitted to God through repentance of sin. 2Peter 1:3-2 states “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, then receive Him now into your heart and ask Him to forgive your sins, so nothing separates you from God the Father (Rom. 10:9-10).

2–Put on the Armor of God.

11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Observation: “Put on” is a command. The whole armor of God means all of it, every piece described below. We can only stand against the schemes of the devil when we have the whole armor on. Yes, the devil schemes about how to trip you up and cause you to doubt God, just like he did Adam and Eve. 2Corinthians 11:3 explains, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Interpretation and Application: Verse 11 does not say how often we are to put on the armor of God, but it is safe to say that every day would be a good start. It does not say when to put on the armor of God, but the safest time is the first thing in the morning. I have a prayer model to help you do this; use the PUTTING ON THE ARMOR OF GOD PRAYER MODEL. Paul talks about the devil’s schemes. Schemes mean to plot, plan, design, strategies, and so on. Remember, Satan is the roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1Peter 5:8). In 2Corinthians 2:11, Paul said, “So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Put on the full armor of God, so you are not outwitted by Satan’s schemes or designs.

3–Do Everything to Resist the Devil and Stand Firm.

13) “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

Observation: The previous verse, verse 12, explained that we are in a spiritual war against the ranks of demons. Therefore, the whole armor of God is needed to withstand or successfully resist on the day you are tested or tempted by evil spirits. Next, this verse tells you to stand firm when you have successfully resisted. James 4:7 tells us that when we resist the devil, he will flee.

Interpretation and Application: I often forget to be prepared and to stand firm every day. I forget that I am a spirit being in a human body living in a spirit world within the physical world. I need to be reminded to put on the whole armor of God, so I can successfully resist temptations and oppressions from evil forces at work against me or others. Taking up the whole armor of God is a mental discipline because Satan works in our minds.

4–Put on Truth, Righteousness, and Peace.

14-15) “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”

Observation: The armor is already on before you stand firm against the evil day. Each piece of armor represents a characteristic of Jesus Christ.

Interpretation and Application: Jesus is the truth and the Word. When you read, memorize, and do the Word of God, you are putting on truth. When you put on Jesus Christ, you are putting on righteousness. Romans 13:14 states, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” When you put on the shoes of peace, you walk as Jesus would. 1John 2:6 states, “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” Also, Hebrews 12:14 states, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

5–Keep Faith, Salvation, and the Word of God Close to You Through Prayer.

16-18) “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

Observation: Faith, Salvation, and God’s word are imperative to stand firm against the assault of the evil one (the devil and his demons). Continual prayer in the Spirit is how you stay alert.

Interpretation and Application: If you relax in any way and do not keep on the whole armor of God and take up the shield of faith, you will be destroyed. Our faith is a shield held up through prayer and reading God’s Word. Praying at all times helps keep these necessary components of the armor close to you. Colossians 4:2 tells us to “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” We are also commanded to keep alert with all perseverance to be watchful, that means, don’t give up and don’t let your guard down.

Conclusion:

The armor of God is something we forget about. We lay down our shield of faith, don’t read the Bible, forget to pray, and then wonder why we aren’t doing well and have so many problems. Too often, watching TV takes up most of your time, and you don’t have time to read your Bible and pray. Remember, if you are a child of God, you need to keep your mind on the things of God above, not the things of this world. TV is a gateway to worldly thinking. The five more ways to deal with the demonic realm are as follows:

1–Be Strong Through Jesus Christ.

2–Put on the Armor of God.

3–Do Everything to Resist the Devil and Stand Firm.

4–Put on Truth, Righteousness, and Peace.

5–Keep Faith, Salvation, and the Word of God Close to You Through Prayer.

If you are interested in learning more, please check out the series of posts I wrote on spiritual warfare on the Spiritual Warfare Posts page.

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

The Spirit World Through Jesus’s Eyes, Introduction

Have you ever wondered if a person had demons or oppressive spirits? What would that look like? In the coming months, I will explore the unseen world through the eyes of Jesus. My posts will be biblically based using the Inductive Bible Study method, which focuses on observation, interpretation, and application. We know the Bible says that angels are ministering spirits for those who are to inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). They give us messages (read the Christmas story as an example) and protect us (Ps. 91:11). Angels obey the word of God (Ps. 103:20).

Last year, I wrote about mental health. As I was praying about what to write this year, the Lord impressed on my mind to do a deep dive into how we can know when we are dealing with a demon or oppressive spirits, and what to do. I lead a Bible study in the prison system, and I have seen the evidence of demon activity in the women who attend my Bible Study. I have cast out demons as well. And, I have been attacked by demons/evil spirits. I will explain how I knew and what I did about it. Our mental health is also influenced by unseen evil forces.

Misconceptions About Demons

I am surprised by how many people do not believe that Christians can be afflicted by demons. And how many Christians believe that when Jesus died on the Cross, he defeated Satan, which is true, so we are victorious over them, which we are. But what many Christians are not aware of is how they are unwittingly inviting evil spirits to oppress them through their sin and thought life. Then, I know some Christians who rebuke everything as if a demon is behind it. If a door is stuck, they rebuke the demon that is causing it to stick. YIKES! We need a balanced biblical view of demons, evil spirits, oppressive spirits, and Satan. I generated 16 pages of scripture references, so I have plenty of factual material to teach from.

The Three References to Evil Entities.

So what is the difference between demons, evil spirits, and Satan? The Bible uses all three references. I am not an expert on this topic, but I have firsthand experience. Let’s look at what the Scripture says.

Demons are known to be the fallen angels who followed Lucifer in his sin and were thrown down to the earth with Satan, who is also known as the devil. Revelations 12:9 states, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Demons are spirits, Matthew 8:16 states, “That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.” King James reads, “When …, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, ….” The New International Version and New American Standard Version read, “When… many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word…”

Evil spirits are demons. Luke 8:2 explains, “And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.” Here is another example of evil spirits also being demons: Acts 19:15-16 states, “But the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?’ ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” We know the demons who possessed the men at Gadarenes knew who Jesus was (Matt. 8:28-29). The evil spirit in the man in Acts 19:15 also knew Jesus, which suggests that evil spirits are demons.

Concludion

I described two spirit entities, demons and evil spirits; to respect your time, I will write a separate post on Satan. We do not have to fear the devil, evil spirits, or demons because Jesus Christ has given us the authority to command them to leave. BUT many of us give the evil spirits the right to oppress us. I will elaborate on that in another post. YOU can live in victory and freedom through Jesus Christ.

Blessings.

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

How To Overcome Holiday Stress

For many, the holidays are not a happy time and are full of stress. You may be one of the fortunate ones who has never experienced disappointment during the holidays; that is great. In this post, you will learn how to mitigate stress and change your perspectives, expectations, and focus to find joy and peace.

Do you remember a time you really wanted something for Christmas, and you didn’t get it? Does that memory steal your joy during the Christmas season? Do you feel sad because a family member died or there was a divorce? It is okay to feel sad about a loss. We will always have disappointments that make us sad or angry. I grew up poor, and when my father left, I never heard from him again, so the holidays were not joyous.

I have to confess that last year I became depressed because my children weren’t coming home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. They just had a baby and didn’t want to travel down from Syracuse. That is understandable, but I was still sad. It helped me develop compassion for others who lack family and will spend the holidays alone.

Stop Stressing About Gift-Giving.

Gift-giving is a tradition begun by the wise men who brought gifts for baby Jesus. Giving gifts shows honor to the person receiving the gift. Gift-giving became stressful when it became a competition on who could give the most. We were poor and could not give as many gifts. Buying gifts is a challenge for me and very stressful. So, I stopped making gift-giving the central theme of Christmas. Most of my family understood because they could all buy what they wanted, when they wanted. Most people don’t need anything. My husband’s family agreed to stop buying presents for the adults. So we only buy for the children.

My sister refuses to stop buying gifts and expects me to get her gifts. She is very wealthy, but I am not, so she would always compare the gifts she gave me with the ones I gave her, which was very humiliating. Do you see why gift-giving is so stressful for me? I came up with the idea of giving her gifts of service, which she appreciated more than a gift. I also make things for her, which she likes. This year, I am making her a unique raincoat. We picked out the pattern together, and she picked out the fabric.

I live with my husband, and I still cannot come up with a gift for him because he gets everything he needs or wants. Plus, we have the same bank account, so he would know everything I bought him, so there is no surprise. I did start making chocolate-covered peanut butter and coconut candy, which he loves. I also give them as gifts to my children, but not to my sister. For a few years, I gave my husband ten cards that he could redeem for a massage. He loved that. Please leave a comment with other gift ideas. We have so much, and we don’t need more stuff. I don’t need more stuff.

Change Your Focus.

Holidays are focused on family gatherings, which is good. But not every family is mentally healthy, and not everyone has a family. Change happens every year. A family member may die, get sick, move away, get married, or experience a job loss, and so on. There will always be disappointment around Christmas time. I found joy by focusing on the wonderful gift that God gave us in the birth of Jesus, the actual reason for the season. I look for opportunities to share the good news of salvation that came with the birth of Jesus, along with hope (Rom. 15:13), peace (John 16:33), joy (John 15:11), and love.

Start new traditions that focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas. When I had children at home, we read the Christmas story and talked about the gifts God gives us. I also had them do a scavenger hunt for baby Jesus. I gave each child a clue, and they raced to find the next clue and see who could be the first to find something made of gold, then find myrrh, then frankincense, and the last clue was where baby Jesus was hidden. The kids loved that tradition. I would love to hear your ideas.

Reach Out to Those Who Are Alone.

Look for ways to encourage widows, take them a lunch, and spend time with them. Many will spend the holiday alone. Going to a Nursing home to visit those who have no one to see them. Singing carols with those in the Nursing Home gives them great joy. If there is an orphanage in your area, take time to give to them. James 1:27 states, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Volunteering at a soup kitchen to feed the homeless will also make you feel good and show honor to someone who cannot give back.

One year, I could not go home for Christmas because of a snowstorm. A person I knew learned of my situation, came by my apartment, and took me to her house for Christmas dinner. I will never, ever, forget that Christmas, which was over 40 years ago. Her mother and father made room for me at the dinner table and gave me a bag of M&Ms as a gift. Whenever I see M&Ms, I am reminded of their kindness. So I encourage you to reach out to those who will spend Christmas alone.

Invite the people around you to church, take them a plate of cookies, or invite them to dinner. One year, our church encouraged the members to invite international students to their homes for a holiday meal. Many students cannot go home for the holidays. Inviting them to your home would be a memory you and they would never forget. Showing kindness to someone will boost your mental health.

Jesus gave an example in Luke 14:12-14: “He said also to the man who had invited him, ‘When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13) But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’”

Conclusion

I hope this post was encouraging and helps give you ways to make the holidays less stressful. Giving gifts of service to those who have everything, not more stuff. Focus on the real reason for Christmas or Thanksgiving and start new traditions. Invite those who will spend the holiday alone to your home. Give to those who can’t give back. Be a blessing. I know there is so much more I could have shared, but I would love to hear your ideas, which would also encourage others who read this post. I pray God bless you richly as you focus on Him and share love with others.

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and the truths behind them. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles. Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

FIVE WAYS TO TAME YOUR IMAGINATION

Have you ever caught yourself getting all worked up imagining a worst-case scenario that may never happen? It is unwise to let your imagination go down a dark path, because your emotions and behavior follow your thoughts, and you will often act foolishly. For example, my sister accused my husband of cheating in a game we were playing. She let her imagination fuel her assumption, and her emotions followed. She said many unkind words. I tried to reason with her, but she kept believing the lie that my husband was trying to do her in. My husband was not cheating, and he will no longer play games with her. Her foolish imagination and controlling behavior ruined her relationship with my husband. Has your imagination caused you to act foolishly?

What Stimulates Your Imagination?

Stories, TV shows, and movies are often make-believe scenarios to entertain you, but those images influence thoughts, which stimulate your imagination. For example, I became interested in the van-life movement, and I found their van creations and travel experiences very interesting. Watching these YouTube videos has inspired me to want to do the same thing. My husband is shocked because I am a homebody, and he loves to travel. Talking to people can stimulate good or bad thoughts and imagination.

Problems stimulate either creative thoughts or destructive thoughts. If you have a problem you need to solve, you can use your imagination to come up with a solution. For example, I had a problem with one of my chickens that always wanted to fight. I had to separate her from the flock because the other chickens would nearly kill her. My husband did not want to kill her, so I had to come up with a solution to keep her separate, protected from predators, and not a burden to care for her. It took me about a month to come up with a viable, though not perfect, solution. On the other hand, if you are having problems with your family, you may imagine it would be better to get a divorce, turn to alcohol or drugs, go to the bar instead of going home, and so on.

For a long time, as I was healing from the trauma of my past, I was caught up in a world of make-belief to escape the struggles of my life. As a child, I spent hours completely dissociated from reality, living in a make-believe world in my mind. Since I healed my trauma memories, I no longer struggle with dissociation. To learn more about how I healed my memories, read my website book called “Hope for Complete Healing.”

Unhealthy beliefs will stimulate your imagination to go down a dark road of make-believe that robs your life and sometimes your finances. If you have insecurity issues, you may have the unhealthy belief that someone doesn’t like you. Your imagination will come up with many scenarios of why they don’t want you, which feeds your unhealthy belief that you are unworthy. Some people have the harmful belief that they must prepare for some catastrophe that may never happen. Many people are caught up in the prepping phenomenon because of TV shows, YouTube videos, and prepping books. My sister is totally controlled by the prepping phenomenon, spending a vast amount of money and time on it.

What Does the Bible Say?

God writes a lot about our thoughts, which I explain in the page called “Posts on Thoughts.” I found two verses concerning imaginations.

Proverbs 18:11 states, “A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination.”

Act 17:29 states, “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.”

How to Tame Your Imagination.

A person’s imagination can be good when used to create beautiful works of art, engineering feats, or great inventions. But most of the time, imaginations are fueled by unhealthy beliefs and unrealistic fears. I explain this in a post called “How Fear Controls You.” In this post, I want to explain how to tame your imagination. Your thoughts direct your imagination, and you can control what you think.

Recognize (be mindful of) your thoughts and feelings. Note, God is aware of all your thoughts (Ps. 139:1-4).
Ask yourself, is what I am thinking the truth? Did the situation happen, and is there a real threat or problem that needs to be mitigated?
Take the unhealthy belief captive and tell it to be gone in Jesus’ name (2Cor. 10:5 and John 14:14).
Apply a truth to your mind and dwell on what is true (Phil. 4:8).
Let your mind dwell on God’s word (Ps. 1:1-3 and Joshua 1:8) when you become worried or fearful.

Conclusion

The quality of your mental health depends on what your mind dwells on. Understanding external influences on your mind and imagination will help you determine whether what you believe is the truth or a lie. Take captive all thoughts that stimulate feelings of anger, hate, malice, manipulation, sadness, fear, envy, impurity, sensuality, and so on. Don’t let your imagination cause you to sin. Set your mind on the things of God to stay in the will of God and to worship Him continually. Colossians 3:1-3 states, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” And Romans 12:2 states, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Purpose, Sadness, and Loneliness

Do you have a sense of purpose for your life? Do you see how sadness is related to a lack of purpose? How do you know what your purpose is? To learn more, read my post called Know Your Purpose? In this post, we will explore why having a sense of purpose diminishes or eliminates sadness and loneliness. Webster’s dictionary defines purpose as to aim, intend, or resolve to do something good or achieve a goal.

Focusing on achieving a goal or doing something good takes your mind off what makes you sad or lonely. Having a purpose can diminish and even eliminate sadness when the source is feeling hopeless and despondent. Let’s face it, most of the time we feel sad, and it is most often about how we have been wronged. Yes, grieving is healthy sadness, but when you become sad because of a wrong, this can be diminished or eliminated. Often, when we suffer a loss, we also lose our sense of purpose. You will learn how to find another purpose despite the loss. Loneliness makes us feel sad because we don’t feel connected to others.

How Trials and Afflictions Make You Sad But Give You Purpose

I can give many examples, but here is one: when I was going through a difficult trial at work many years ago, I focused on earning a post-baccalaureate certificate and on writing my testimony in Hope For Complete Healing. Achieving goals helped me not feel despondent about the unfairness. I had to battle anxiety since I was the only one with a full-time job, and helping my son with his college tuition. At the very last minute (God’s timing), my husband was given a full-time job, which also helped my son with his tuition. God is faithful, and we can trust Him. God also gave me a new purpose for when I would be laid off: to write my first book and start my Hope for Complete Healing ministry.

The trials in my life prepared me for my purpose. Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” The condition is to love God and be called according to His purpose. His main purpose is for you to be conformed to the image of God. Verse 29a says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” God foreknew everyone who would love Him. We are conformed to His image through affliction (James 1:2-4). King David said in Psalm 119:50, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.” Knowing God’s promises comforts us and lifts our sadness. Afflictions contribute to depression, so knowing God’s promises and trusting Him will give you hope and a feeling of life. I wrote a book called Unlocking God’s Promises. I encourage you to get a copy to know God’s promises.

Where Does Our Purpose Come From?

Our emotions are complex, but know that you are made in the image of God, who has all the same emotions. Even in the midst of your suffering and sadness, you can find purpose. Consider the following purposes that God shows us in the Bible. A sense of purpose breaks the stronghold of loneliness as well.

Show others love as you would want to be loved.
Be kind to someone, even the person or people who are troubling or ignoring you.
Be patient when things don’t go as you want.
Be gentle when annoyed.
Spread joy by encouraging others, even when you feel discouraged.
Ease a burden for someone.
Seek peace with others and don’t argue.
Be faithful to your family and employer.
Be trustworthy and not lie.
Be self-controlled and do not indulge your unhealthy feelings or desires.
Be thankful for something, even that you are not a leper in India.
Pray for someone who is struggling.
Minister to widows and orphans by visiting or helping them.
Show hospitality.
Use your gifts to serve others.

All the above actions help you focus on others and not yourself. I learned that sadness is self-focused on what I think is unfair and on my wants and feelings. Loneliness is also self-focused. When you focus on others or achieving a goal, it gets your focus off yourself and your troubles. Try it, and tell me how you feel afterwards. As soon as you begin to think about “poor me” and how you are being wronged, or whatever it is, then choose something on the list above and focus on accomplishing that instead. Make a habit of focusing on others, and you will feel as if you have a purpose.

Conclusion

Here are a few, but not exhaustive, ways to overcome sadness.

Being sad is an emotional response to living in a sinful world with sinful people. Stay in prayer and forgiveness so you aren’t filled with toxic sadness and hopelessness.
Acknowledge that you are sad, which is okay, forgive, and look for ways to avoid focusing on how you or others were wronged.
Let the wrong define your purpose. If a friend’s husband leaves her for another woman, you can feel sad for her, but you now have an opportunity to serve and help her in her time of need. When I was going through a divorce and was a single mother, many people helped me. I have the purpose to help other single mothers who are struggling.
We will always be offended or feel hurt by someone. Forgive and don’t let the other person’s weakness steal your joy and peace. Pray for them.
Don’t make excuses that you were born melancholy; that is a non-biblical label and not how God intended you to exist. See yourself as God sees you, which you can read in my post called How Does God See You?.

May God bless you richly as you seek Him and become more like Him.

Related Posts:

HOW TO REPLACE SADNESS WITH REJOICING

Prevent Suicide and Addictions with Hope

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises that are relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

HOW DOES GOD SEE YOU?

Do you sometimes have low self-esteem because of the people you compare yourself to? Do you have a shame-based identity because of what you did or what was done to you? What people have said about us and to us shapes our identity. Experiences shape your identity. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ and receive Him into our hearts, we will then have His identity. However, first, we must put off the wrong beliefs. And put on God’s truth.

Last week, I explained how the lies we believe control how we feel about ourselves. I listed different lies and the truth found in God’s word. To have a new self-image, you first need to put off the lies you believe. For example, when you clean your house, you need to remove the trash and dirt first, to make it look clean and new. The following truth statements are for those who believe in and have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Repeat the statements on this list and believe these truths about yourself. Let your identity be based on what God says.

I am the salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13) and can preserve and enhance peace and love.

I am the light of the world (Matt. 5:14) and can shine God’s truth and love.

I am a child of God (John 1:12), and I believe and have received Christ into my heart (Eph. 3:17).

I am part of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life (John 15:1-5), so I can grow the fruit of the Spirit.

I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15), and I trust that He will never leave me and will help me (Heb. 13:5b-6).

I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit (John 15:16).

I am a slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18), and Jesus Christ makes me righteous (1Cor. 5:21).

I am a child of God: God is spiritually my Father (Rom. 8:14-15; Gal. 3:26; 4:6).

I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Rom. 8:17).

I am a temple, a dwelling place of God. His Spirit and life dwell in me (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).

I am united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

I am a member of Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 5:30) and have His divine power for life and godliness (2Peter 1:3).

I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) and reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18; Rom. 5:10).

I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-19) to share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

I am a child of God and one in Christ (Gal. 3:26-28).

I am an heir of God since I am a child of God (Gal. 4:6-7).

I am a saint (Eph. 1:1, 1 Cor. 1:2; Phil.1:1; Col. 1:2).

I am God’s workmanship, His handiwork born anew in Christ to do His work (Eph. 2:10).

I am a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family (Eph. 2:19).

I am a prisoner of Christ (Eph. 3:1; 4:1).

I am righteous and holy (Eph. 4:24).

I am a citizen of heaven, seated in heaven right now (Phil. 3:20; Eph. 2:6).

I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).

I am an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life (Col. 3:4).

I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (Col. 3:12; 1 Thess. 1:4).

I am a child of light and not of darkness (1 Thes. 5:5).

I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1).

I am a partaker of Christ; I share in His life (Heb. 3:14) and divine nature (2Peter 1:4).

I am one of God’s living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1Pet. 2:5).

I am a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9,10)

I am an alien and a stranger to this world in which I temporarily live (1 Pet. 2:11).

I am an enemy of the devil (1 Pet. 5:8) and can stand firm against his schemes (Eph. 6:11).

I am a child of God, and I will resemble Christ when He returns (1 John 5:18).

Conlusion

Your self-image reflects your mental health. I encourage you to read the above list over the next month to imprint your heart and mind with these truths. Ask God to show you the lies you believe, then put them out of your mind and heart as you put in the above truths. If you need to talk to someone, I am available to talk to you. Contact me through my email.

You can read my other Mental Health posts here.

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All verses are from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share this link with your friends and family: hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright-protected. Please do not reproduce any part of the posts or my book without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

My latest book, Unlocking God’s Promises, explains 18 categories of promises that are relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.