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WINNING THE WAR AGAINST THE CHURCH

How often is there conflict on Sunday morning and during the drive to church? Then when you get to the church, you are all smiles as if everything is good. How often do you feel like staying home or sleeping in on a Sunday morning? Do you or know someone who prefers to stay home and attend a zoom church or TV church? I ask these questions because they reveal the unseen war against the church and God’s people. We don’t know we are in a spiritual battle, but we are. Satan hates God and God’s children and works to destroy the church and separate God’s children. The devil’s destruction has been happening since the church began.

Act 8:3 tells us that “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” Many places around the world cannot openly worship God and attend a church service. Many Christians are languishing in prison because of their faith. Remember to pray for them. We, in America, still have the freedom to worship God and attend church, but for how long? Can you see the beginnings of the war on Christianity and the church in America?

What if someone barges into your house and puts you in prison for your faith? Would your faith hold strong? Revelations 2:10 states, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Honestly look into your heart. Will you be faithful if you should face persecution?

Satan’s Unseen Deception of Eternal Security

Ask God to help you examine your beliefs about eternal security and church attendance. Jeremiah 17:9-10 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ¹⁰’I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’” God knows all your thoughts and beliefs; ask Him to show you the truth. Do you believe that saying a salvation prayer is your ticket to heaven, and you can continue to live as you please? The salvation prayer is the birth of your faith. After receiving Jesus Christ’s forgiveness for your sins, you need to grow your faith. Your faith increases when you read the Bible, pray at all times to exercise your faith, share your faith to strengthen it, and go to a Bible-teaching church to reinforce your faith?

The following truths are hard, but ask God to give you understanding. Matthew 7:21 states, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Are you obeying the Word of God, which is His written will? Matthew 10:32-33 states, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Are you sharing your faith and telling others about Jesus and what He did for you? Also, Revelations 3:5 states, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Yes, God can blot your name out. Only those who conquer persecution and the unseen battles of deception and temptations by the power of Jesus Christ will enter heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14) For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” I wrote my book called “Fighting Unseen Battles” to help everyone find the narrow gate and endure.

The Apostle Paul tells the Philippian church in Philippians 2:12, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Also, 1Peter 1:17-19 states, “And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” To work out your salvation or conduct yourselves with fear means to forsake evil and do good through God’s divine power. Working out your salvation with fear begins with a salvation prayer.

Satan’s Unseen Deception of Church Attendance

Many people who grew up in the church believe they are going to heaven. My neighbor told me that he went to a children’s Bible School, and he thinks he is going to heaven and does not have to do anything else. Some Pastors think they are going to heaven because they know theology. Ask yourself, “When I stand before God, and He were to ask me, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say? Does the Bible say going to church makes you a child of God? Does the Bible say that being born into a Christian family or having a grandfather who was a preacher make you a child of God? John 1:12-13 states, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Does regular church attendance guarantee an entrance to heaven? Since I am writing to a Christian audience, I hope you know the right answer. Surprisingly, many church people don’t get the answer right. Some people say they are good, so God will let them into heaven. They think they are going to heaven because they are better than most Christians. Romans 3:23-25 states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” And others said they don’t know but hope that God will let them in because He loves all humanity and would throw no one into hell. Can you see the deception that Satan puts in people’s minds?

Satan wants to prevent us from being a follower of Jesus Christ. The devil also does not want us to obey His commands, namely, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love others. Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ³¹The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Do you love God and spend time with Him in His word and in prayer? Do you love the people in the church?

Conclusion

Again, I could have written a lot more, but I believe you understand that there is an unseen war of deception against God’s people. Many people are deceived into thinking they are guaranteed entrance into heaven based on faulty beliefs. I understand some verses say the Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance, but guarantees are based on conditions. Ephesians 1:13-14 is conditioned on believing until you receive your inheritance from God. So if you stop believing and live a wicked lifestyle, you forfeit your inheritance. Hebrews 12:1 states, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Find the condition in Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” No one wants to suffer.

In the end times, there will be a great falling away because of deception and suffering. Resolve in your heart today that you will not fall away and begin today to do the will of God found in the Word of God. Hebrews 3:12 states, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”

RELATED POSTS

Getting The Most Out of Church

How The Church Prepares You to Meet God

Why Go to Church?

Four Realities of the Spirit World

All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight 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.

Getting The Most Out of Church

Do you sometimes go to church and feel empty and bored? Or do you feel encouraged and glad you went to Church? Do you prepare to meet God in the sanctuary? Where are your thoughts? In this church series, I am exploring unhealthy beliefs and the path to spiritual fulfillment. My first post covered why we should go to church. In my second post, I explore navigating offenses and how the church prepares you to meet God.

In my last post, you learned that we are saved sinners who are being made holy as God is Holy. Hebrews 12:14 states, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” When we become offended, we often become depressed or contentious, then bitter. Note that verse 14 says that no one will see the Lord without holiness. Becoming holy is the process of transforming sinful thinking with the truth of God’s Word (Romans 12:2).

If you think about it, Heaven is going to be one gigantic eternal church service for all God’s children. So if you don’t like to go to church now, seek God to show you why. Exchange your false beliefs with His truth. One false belief is that the church is there to serve me. The truth in Galatians 5:1 is we are to serve one another in love. You might believe the members are hypocrites. Yes, you are right, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Believers are Jesus’ handiwork and are hopefully transforming wrong thinking by reading their Bibles. I covered how to deal with messy people in my last post. In this post, I want to share how to get the most out of going to church, despite the messy people.

Be one spirit with God to understand the church service.

First, we need to repent of sin, receive God’s forgiveness, and make Him Lord of our lives for the church service to be meaningful. Second, join your spirit with God’s Spirit. We become one spirit with God through believing in Jesus as the Son of God who was sent by God the Father to pay the debt for our sins by shedding His blood on the cross.

1John 4:13 states, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” Also, 1John 4:15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” And 1Corinthians 6:17 tells us “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” When we are not one spirit with God, we cannot comprehend God’s Word, and the preaching is meaningless. 1Corinthians 2:11 states, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

We need a humble, repentant heart to meet God at Church.

I found that church was unfulfilling when I had sin in my life. Remember, sin is anything we think, say, and do that is not obeying God’s instructions. The church is where we go to corporately fellowship with other believers and to learn how to live a holy life that is pleasing to God. Leviticus 19:2 states, “Speak to all the congregation … and say to them, you shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”

When sin is in our lives, it separates us from God until we confess it and repent. 1John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Unconfessed sin also blocks our prayers and our relationship with God and His people.

Self-centered pride is the most prevalent sin and the one sin we don’t see we have. Sin prevents us from having meaningful relationships because we fear people may confront our sin. So we live a lie that we are righteous, and everything is okay, but God knows the truth. People who refuse to repent when the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin inevitably leave the church. Continuing in our sin is not worth spending eternity in torture, agony, separation from those you love in the lake of fire.

Bring an expectation to hear from God.

Another reason you may find church unfulfilling and boring is because of unmet expectations. Examine your beliefs and ask God to show if your expectations of the church are unrealistic and nonbiblical. You should expect that the Church teaches the Bible and believes the Word of God is truth and that Jesus is the Son of God who shed His blood to pay the penalty of sin.

An example of a nonbiblical church: My husband and I visited a local church and the Pastor had the parishioners call their dead loved ones up to take communion with them. It mortified both my husband and me. The pastor pointed us out and said we can take communion too, but we didn’t move. Have you ever heard of such a thing? True story. We never went back to that church.

I can name many unrealistic expectations people have that leave them disappointed, but ask God to show you the unmet expectations you may have. Many people leave the church because it does not meet their expectations. The church is where we go to

―corporately worship God

―pray with other believers

―hear the word of God to increase our faith

―fellowship with other believers

―and meet the needs of the church body.

The church is not about what the Pastor can do for you, the carpet color, how nice the Pastor’s wife is, and so on.

Prepare to meet God at Church. Where are your thoughts?

Do you only go to church for social interaction? Or do you go to church to hear from God and encourage others in their faith? Do you read your Bible and pray throughout the week to prepare to meet God during the weekly corporate worship time? You may read a Bible Passage God wants you to share with someone to encourage them. Reading the Bible sanctifies you, that is, makes you holy. Jesus tells us in John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

By praying all the time, you are obeying God’s instructions in Ephesians 6:18 and Romans 12:12. If you are praying at all times, God can drop a person’s name in your mind for you to intercede for them? When you pray all the time, you are not complaining or speaking an unkind word.

What are your thoughts during the week? God wants to be a part of every aspect of your life because someday, we will stand before Him and give an account of the things we did while on the earth. Ask God to reveal unhealthy beliefs about the church that causes you to be disengaged with the service and the people. Romans 1:21 states, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Are you daily giving thanks to God for His love for you and His goodness, and so on? Do you rejoice always about the things God has done and for His promises? Do you think about how you can please God? Our thoughts direct our beliefs and our beliefs direct our feelings. So, if you feel bored or disengaged at church, ask God why.

Conclusion

I hope you found this post helpful and encouraging, though I could have written more. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences. The church is fulfilling when you expect to hear from God, have the right heart attitude, read your Bible and prayed, and are one spirit with God.

How to Pursue and Achieve Godly Character

Relationship and World Changing Kindness

HOW PRIDE DESTROYS

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

If you read my book and find it helpful, please leave a review. Also, if you want to do a Bible study with it, email me and ask for a free PDF of the leader’s guide. The PDF will have suggested discussion questions after each section. Quick links to all the scriptures in the endnotes for you to review or to copy and paste into your notes. Website links to review supporting material. Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@hanscomjoyce

How The Church Prepares You to Meet God

How many reasons come to your mind as to why people leave the church? In my last post, I talked about why we need to go to church. If you need to leave the church because of life changes, find a Bible teaching, missions/service-oriented, God worshiping church. Remember, no church is perfect because people are not perfect. So why do people leave the church and never return?

The Number One Reason People Leave the Church Is Being Offended.

Have you been offended by someone or something in the church? What was your natural response when you became offended? Most offended people simply leave the church and lose their faith, which is Satan’s goal for all of us. Like I said in my last post, people are messy, and so is the church. Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

We know that sin separates us from God. And we all know Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That is true, but that is not the final word. If that is all there is, then we will live defeated lives. Romans 3:24-25 explains the remedy for our messy sin, “And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” We receive the gift of redemption (which is salvation from sin and God’s wrath) by the grace of God through faith. “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 3:8-10).” A work in progress is not perfect, nor is it pretty, so we need to be patient with each other and encourage one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

How Should We React to Offensive People?

We need to see each other as saved sinners who are being made holy as God is Holy. Hebrews 12:14 states, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” When we become offended, we often become depressed or contentious, then bitter. Note that verse 14 says that no one will see the Lord without holiness. Becoming holy is the process of transforming sinful thinking with the truth of God’s Word (Romans 12:2). This is why you need to stay in church, so you can practice being holy and transform your sinful thoughts, not only with your church family but also with your family at home.

Being holy is living an obedient life that strives to please God, knowing we will stand before Him to give an account of our actions. 2Corinthians 5:9-10 states, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

We won’t live holy lives all the time, because inevitably, we will react from our sinful nature and offend someone from time to time. Being offended by other Christians is nothing new. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church about what to do when they became offended. Colossians 3:13-15 states, “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Peace and thankfulness go a long way. Being forgiving and thankful saved my marriage many times because you can’t be offended when you choose to live in love and peace by forgiving and being thankful. Does the peace of God rule in your heart? If not, you may have a past offense that needs to be forgiven. My book on my website helps you work through the many offenses in our hearts.

Excuses Why People Get Offended and Leave The Church

People do not want to tithe.

Don’t like the worship.

Don’t like the Pastor’s wife.

The pastor or music director had an affair.

Don’t like the changes.

The Pastor is boring (sometimes valid).

The people in the church are hypocrites.

The church doesn’t use King James Version.

The Pastor didn’t come to visit me when I missed one Sunday.

The list can be a lot longer, but you get the idea. Notice that being offended is focusing on the things you do not like and can’t control. I have to confess that I left several churches because the music was too loud, and I felt like I was at a rock concert. To me, that is not worship. Some people are drawn to that kind of worship, don’t know why. I can’t imagine God rocking out (just dated myself).

My point is that there are many different kinds of churches with various worship styles, ministries, and preaching styles. My second husband and I changed churches so our sons could go to a robust youth group with a dynamic youth pastor. We were their youth leaders, and we were failing. I have known families leave the church because of a change in the mission statement. If a family leaves the church, I recommend checking on them to see if they found another church home. Encourage those who leave for whatever reason to persevere in their faith and remind them that they will stand before God. Encourage them in their salvation and the need to nurture a holy life so they will spend eternity with God.

John 3:36 states, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

And, Romans 6:22 “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.“

RELATED POSTS:

Freedom from the Spirit of Jealousy

WORDS HAVE POWER—Part I: Overcoming The Destruction of Offensive Words

How to Dig up the Unforgiving Belief to Grow in Love

#1 Destroyer of All Relationships and the Solution

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

Why Go to Church?

Do you or do you know someone who believes a Christian does not need to go to church? Christians have many reasons why they don’t go to church. Over the next several blog posts, I want to explore what the Bible says about the church. In this post, I identify the benefits of being a part of a church. I understand that the church is made of imperfect people who hopefully strive to become more like Christ, so don’t expect to find a perfect church. The pastor won’t be perfect either, so why go to church? Just as people can be messy, so can a church.

Why We Need the Church

I have discovered that many people wrongly believe that they don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. That is true. If you are a prisoner of war in solitary confinement, you will still be a Christian and go to heaven. But God created us to be a community of believers. A community looks out for each other and helps those in need. Titus 3:14 states, “And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.”

For example, one of our homeschooling mothers with six children was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Her youngest was five years old. Our church family supported her and helped the family by taking turns driving her for treatments, making her family meals, and watching the children during her treatments. The type of cancer could not be treated with chemotherapy, so she was allowed to try alternative therapies that were not paid for by her insurance. The church family helped pay for the treatments. The men of the church cut and split wood for the family to heat their home for the winter. At Christmas time, the church showered her children with gifts.

If you stayed home instead of supporting the local church and helping the members in need, then who would be there for you and help you in your time of need? How will you be encouraged to love and do good deeds if you don’t go to church? Hebrews 10:23-25 states, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” If we neglect attending church, we are disobeying God, and therefore, are in sin. I understand that the elderly and infirmed may not be able to get to church, so hopefully, the members of their church will be visiting them to encourage them in their faith and show love by helping them.

The Church is Necessary to Help Us Persevere in Our Faith

Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” I know you can do online church or listen to radio preachers, but being in the house of God and corporately worshiping with others encourages your faith in God. When the children of Israel left Egypt, God required them to build a meeting place where the whole congregation could hear from God through Moses. A congregation is an assembly of persons brought together for common religious worship.

Psalm 107:32 states, “Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.” Also, Psalm 111:1 states, “Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” And Hebrews 2:12 states, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise.” The Bible is clear that we are to meet together to praise God. Psalm 86:9 states, “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” If you don’t want to worship with the believers on earth, then why would you want to worship with them in heaven?

The Corporate Worship Protects You from Deception

Deuteronomy 11:16 states, “Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.” You risk losing your faith and being deceived when you don’t go to church because you become vulnerable to demonic attacks. We were created to worship God and to believe in Him, so if we stop worshiping God, then we will be drawn to worship idols. You are deceived if you don’t think this can happen to you because it happened to the Israelites time and again throughout the Old Testament, and they suffered greatly.

Have you ever sat around a campfire? If you move a burning log away from a fire, it quickly cools and stops burning. If you noticed that when someone stops going to church, their faith will cool? We will be easy prey for the enemy when we are isolated. 1Peter 5:8-9a states, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, firm in your faith.” You can only be firm in your faith when you stay close to other believers with a strong faith. Have you watched an African Nature show? A herd of animals can protect themselves from predators, but if one of the animals gets separated, they are taken down and eaten. We need to stay watchful. The church is there to encourage us to stay under God’s protection.

Conclusion

My heart is very heavy as I write this post because I know many people who were strong in their faith but are no longer walking with God because they left the encouragement and protection of the church. If you don’t like the church you attend or attended, then find another Bible-teaching church. I have changed churches many times, depending on my stage of life. For example, my mother and father grew up Lutheran, so I began my life as a Lutheran. My mother and father came to know Jesus as their savior, so we attended a Brethren Church for a while. Then my mother and father got baptized by the Holy Spirit, and we went to a Pentecostal church for a while. My parents divorced, and we returned to the Lutheran church in my teen years. In college, my friend took me to her Pentecostal church. When I got married, we attended a Christian Missionary Alliance church. When I married my second husband, he wanted to attend the local Wesleyan Church. The point is, find a church that teaches the Bible and don’t expect it to be perfect or to meet your expectations.

How to transform the Helpless Belief with Self-Control

Do you know someone who said they couldn’t help themselves? Is there someone in your life that has a compulsive issue? For many years I had an anger problem that I could not control. I was angry for most of my life because of the angry home I grew up in. I felt helpless to control my feelings and behavior. I said hurtful words to my precious family. I had to change, but how? You may not have an anger problem, but maybe it is a spending problem or a pornography issue.

This post is the last post on transforming unhealthy beliefs series. I have exposed many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and how to transform them with the truth to experience a new reality. My website is about changing false viewpoints to experience a new reality. What we think and say comes from what we believe, and what we believe directs our behavior.

Where Does the Helpless Belief Come From?

The helpless belief is closely related to the “I can’t” belief. If you haven’t read that post, you can read it here. The helpless belief is programmed into our brains from the memories of feeling helpless. Maybe you couldn’t control your behavior which created a painful memory. Or you couldn’t control the events in your life, so you gave up.

When a child is not disciplined for out-of-control behavior, such as laziness, manipulation, lying, temper tantrums, etc., that becomes part of their character. Controlling behavior issues are very hard to reprogram, but with God’s help, you can change automatic reactions.

For example, on New Year’s Eve, I played games with my family. I had an automatic reaction of throwing a fit when I felt someone was not being kind to me. I felt helpless to control my reaction, and it was embarrassing. If you have the same problem, go through the steps to overcome unhealthy beliefs below.

How To Change Unhealthy Beliefs

1. To transform unhealthy beliefs, recognize you have them. Listen to what you are saying and pay attention to your thoughts. Don’t accept that you are helpless to change.

2. Submit the wrong thinking to God and ask Him to show you the truth.

3. Ask God to show you if there is a painful memory controlling your thoughts and out-of-control decisions.

4. Pray and put off the unhealthy belief controlling your thoughts and put on the truth that God shows you from His Word.

I first loosed the wrong thinking that God showed me and replaced it with scripture truths like the following:

— With God’s help, I can be self-controlled and resist temptation, and I can say no to ungodliness and worldly desires. Titus 2:12; Pr. 25:28

— When I am self-controlled, I am temperate, worthy of respect, and sound in faith, love, and perseverance (I do not quit). Titus 2:2

Conclusion: If haven’t seen the other posts in this series, check them out.

How to Dig up the Unforgiving Belief to Grow in Love

How to Convert Pridefulness to Gentleness and Humility

How to Diminish the Distrust Belief to Enlarge Trust

Diminish the “Self-centered” Belief to Expand Goodness (Other-centered)

How to Decrease Fairness Belief to Increase Patience

How to Weed out the Protection Belief and Grow Kindness

How to Eliminate the “My Way is Better” Belief to Sustain Peace

The Link Between Disappointment, Resentment, and Self-control

Self-control and Maturity

1–Healing Begins by Transforming Painful Memories

Finding Unhealthy Beliefs Along the Paths of Life – Hiking Lessons Part Two

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

If you read my book and find it helpful, please leave a review. Also, if you want to do a Bible study with it, email me and ask for a free PDF of the leader’s guide. Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com

Contact me for a PDF of Eight 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.

Three Ways to Have Good Success in The New Year

Joshua 1:8 explains how to have success in your life: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Last year my New Year’s resolution was 1Timothy 4:7-8. “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” I wrote several blogs concerning godliness as I considered how to train myself for godliness, which you can read here.

This year, Joshua 1:8 is my New Year resolution verse because I want to be successful in accomplishing my goals. I do not believe this means I will not have problems or get rich. Prosperous also means good fortune; flourishing; successful. Success is defined by Dictionary.com 2021 as the favorable or prosperous end of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals.

I want to see my ministry prosper and bring God glory. I want to see my evangelistic efforts grow and that many will accept Christ Jesus into their hearts and escape the wrath of God. I want to see my relationships prosper by becoming deeper and healthier. You get the idea.

First Way to Have Good Success

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth.” I plan to accomplish this by always reminding myself and those around me of God’s promises and truths found in the Bible.

Second Way to Have Good Success

“But you shall meditate on it day and night.” To accomplish the second way to prosper, I will ponder and memorize one truth a day, both morning and night. I hope to have 300-360 verses memorized by next year. See my blog post on how to memorize.

The Third way to Have Good Success

“So that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” I plan to memorize scriptural truths that teach me how to love well, be godly, and do good. Next, I will practice these truths through God’s divine power (see 2Peter 1:3). So, if God wants me to share the gospel with my neighbors, I will pray for divine opportunity and do that. To accomplish obeying God’s instructions, I need to ask Him to show me the false beliefs that defile my heart and prevent me from doing His commands. Purifying your heart takes work, but it is worth it because Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). To learn how to purify your heart, see my post called Five Steps to Heal Your Heart and Purify Your Soul.

Conclusion

I hope you choose a guiding verse for your New Year. May God bless you richly in the coming year as you draw closer to Him each and every day.

Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.

Also, contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight 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 know how to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.

How to Fight Unseen Battles

What are unseen battles? How do you know you are in a battle if you don’t see it? These questions and many more are answered in my book called Fighting Unseen Battles, that you can find on Amazon. If you wish to read my eBook and don’t have a Kindle or a Kindle app on your computer or phone, you can go to GooglePlay and download it for free.

Though there are many books written on Spiritual Warfare by big-name radio hosts and preachers, my book is unique because it addresses the unseen battles against our minds, hearts, and souls.

How often do you struggle with being offended, worrying, being judgmental, and so on?

Do you realize how often the spirit world interacts with you?

My book explains how we are spirit beings in a physical body living in a physical world and how the unseen spiritual world interacts with our spirit. Read 1John 4:1-6 and underline all the “Spirit” references. Here are the first three verses: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

How many times a day do you have an opportunity to become offended?

This book will help you recognize and overcome offenses. For example, I was helping an inmate fight the unseen battle of deception that generated anger. Because of this unseen battle, she wanted to kill her mother. By the end of our session, she had overcome the attack on her mind. At our next session, she reported that all was good with the situation involving her mother that she took offense to.

This book will teach you how to help others fight unseen battles in their lives. Parents will benefit by reading this book, so they can recognize the unseen struggles in their children and help them to be victorious. I regret not knowing about unseen battles when I was a parent. I would have been a better parent and better equipped to help my children face the many difficulties in the world.

Do you know where unseen battles come from?

My book reveals the many sources of unseen battles, including the basic tactic of every deception and temptation from:

–Demonic Forces

–Self-centered Pride

–Adversity and Troubles

–Sinful Nature

–Worldliness

–Idolatry

–Unanswered Prayer

You will learn about the biblical authority a believer has to fight against demonic forces and the biblical strategies for victory.

My book is the culmination of the Bible Study materials I prepared for incarcerated women. It is written at a basic, easy-to-understand level with practical how-to applications of God’s truths. I love reading my book because it reminds me of the daily battles we are unaware of and the biblical strategies to be victorious. I know you will be encouraged when you read this book. You will also be equipped to help others and to make disciples, as Jesus instructed in Matthew 18:19.

You can find my book on Amazon. I hope you check it out because I know you will be blessed. If you read my book and find it helpful, please leave a review. Also, if you want to do a Bible study with it, email me and ask for a free PDF of the leader’s guide. The PDF will have suggested discussion questions after each section. The scriptures in the endnotes will have quick links, and website links to review supporting material. My contact information is on the Copywrite page.

Thank you to everyone who supports my healing ministry. May God bless you and your family richly in the coming year.

How to Convert Pridefulness to Gentleness and Humility

You might think you have the right to be prideful because of your position in life, accomplishments, or status in the community. None of those situations are bad, nor does it mean you have arrogant, self-centered pride. Being proud of your accomplishments is different than thinking you’re better than someone else. I have to admit that I struggle with pride because I slip into thinking more highly of myself than I ought to. Most pride issues come from unhealthy beliefs that need to be uncovered and transformed by truth.

How often have you heard people make excuses for their bad behavior and accept it as part of who they are? So why is self-centered pridefulness a bad thing? The Spirit of pride keeps you from acknowledging your sin, apologizing, and repenting. I have written several posts on this subject. To learn more, please read the posts listed below:

HOW PRIDE DESTROYS

#1 Destroyer of All Relationships and the Solution

Anger Issues Protected by Pride and Judgmental Strongholds

My website is about changing unhealthy beliefs to experience a new reality. What we think and say comes from what we believe, and what we believe directs our behavior. Our choices determine how healthy our relationships will be. In this series of posts, I will expose the unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and how to transform them with the truth to experience a new reality. So why should we deal with pridefulness, and how does it block a gentle and meek attitude?

Where Does the Prideful Belief Come From?

The primary source of sinful pride is the devil. Self-centered, unhealthy beliefs are based on wrong assumptions and perceptions put into our minds by the demonic spirits all around us. Remember, we are spirit beings in a physical body living in a physical world controlled by the spirit world. You can read more about that in my post called: Four Realities of the Spirit World. Also, see the link below by Dr. David Jeremiah. If you are not submitted to God and are not resisting the devil, he will put the thoughts into your mind that you deserve better treatment than that, and so on.

Satan (angel named Lucifer, meaning “morning star”) sinned because of his pride by wanting to set his throne above God’s throne and was thrown down to earth (Isaiah 14:13-15 and Rev. 12:7-9). He causes us to sin through the same prideful attitude. Pride is thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to think (Romans 12:3), which also encourages us to think with sober (sound) judgment, that is, with a humble attitude. You know you have a spirit of pride when you are self-centered and insist on getting what you want at the expense of others. And, you know you are prideful when you become offended and get a bad attitude toward someone for what they said/did not say or did/did not do something you felt was unfair.

How do you know if you are humble?

God’s word defines a humble person as follows:

1. Someone who fears God (Prov. 15:33; 22:4).

2. A person who bears with others and is kind, patient, and forgiving (Eph 4:2 & 32).

3. When we count others as more important than ourselves (Phil. 2:3).

4. If you have wisdom that is pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (James 3:17; Proverbs 11:2).

5. Someone who has acknowledged they are a sinner and repents (Psalm 149:4).

6. A person with a contrite (repentant) heart who trembles at God’s Word (Isaiah 66:2).

7. A humble person is not judgmental but gives grace (Eph 4:29).

What Is the Truth That Transforms this Unhealthy Belief?

The truth is that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1Pet 5:5 and James 4:6).” 1Peter 5:6-7 states, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” Give God all the worries that cause you to be anxious, and trust God to take care of all your concerns. When you worry, you exalt yourself above God because you do not trust Him to take care of your affairs. When you humbly give God all your concerns, He promises to exalt you at the proper time.

James 4:7 states, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When we submit to God, we are humbling ourselves and acknowledging our sin and need for His power and strength. But we are also to resist the devil and his temptations toward selfish ambition and pride. James 3:14-16 states, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to [deny] the truth. ¹⁵This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile [evil] practice.” First, humbly ask God to show you if this verse applies to your life. Secondly, if you see selfishness, acknowledge that you have an unhealthy pride that leads to selfish ambition and ask for God’s forgiveness. Thirdly, ask God to remove it and to give you a humble spirit.

How To Change Unhealthy Beliefs

1. Before you can transform unhealthy beliefs, listen to what you are saying and pay attention to your thoughts because they come from unhealthy beliefs.

2. Submit the wrong thinking to God and ask Him to show you His transforming truth.

3. Ask God to show you if there is a painful memory contributing to your pridefulness. Satan takes every opportunity to inject pride into our minds.

4. Pray and put off the unhealthy belief controlling your thoughts, and put on the truth God shows you from His Word.

I first loosed the wrong thinking that God showed me and replaced it with scripture truths similar to the following:

Humility realizes that everything I have, including my abilities, is a gift from God. Deut. 8:17-18

I do not think of myself more highly than others, but in humility, I will regard others as more important than myself. Rom. 12:3; Phil. 2:3

God lifts up the humble in due time, so I will cast all my anxiety on Him because He cares for me. 1 Pet. 5:6-7; James 4:10

I am humbled when I see my need for God and trust He will guide me in what is right for all His ways are loving and faithful. Ps. 25:9-10

When I am humble, then I will be honored. Prov.15:33b

HOW TO DESTROY THE DEVIL’S WORK IN YOUR LIFE

Who Is Lucifer in the Bible?

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 is Unlocking God’s Promises, which 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.

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.

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

How to Diminish the Distrust Belief to Enlarge Trust

Do you distrust people or just certain people? Do you distrust God? Why? In this post, you will learn why you distrust and then learn how to diminish the distrust belief. Because my first marriage was abusive, I had to learn to trust again. I didn’t even trust myself because I lacked self-control, but more on that in another post. When I began dating my present husband, I wanted to test his sincerity, so I set a boundary of no kissing. I wanted to know if he respected boundaries and respected me. I also did not want to become sexually involved, which kissing usually leads to. We dated for a year and did not kiss one time, and then he asked me to marry him. My response was, “Well, you haven’t given me a reason to say no.” What a way to say “yes.”

What is Trust to Understand the Distrust Belief

Trust is to have confidence in and be able to rely on someone else, especially in God. An honest person does not lie, cheat, or steal. A trustworthy person is someone who is loyal and will be faithful and dependable. A dependable person can be relied on and is predictable. We all want fidelity in our relationships, which is a faithful devotion to duty or one’s obligations or vows. We are more likely to be submissive (yield to the actions, control, power, and so on) when we trust those in authority over us. Also, peace and love thrive in a trusting environment.

As you read the above paragraph about trust, a few painful memories may have been triggered, reinforcing the distrust belief. I have written several posts on this subject that you will find helpful.

Pt. 1: Forsaken ? Betrayed? How to Trust Again.

Pt. 3: Seven Markers of a Trustworthy Person

TRUST Leads to PEACE

Where Does the Distrust Belief Come From?

Children naturally want to trust people. They believe what they are told is the truth until they feel betrayed when their expectations are not met. Unhealthy beliefs develop in childhood when we go through a painful experience. The painful experience could be not getting something we wanted, so we develop the unhealthy belief that we are not loved. As adults, we still resort to the same false belief when our self-centered expectations go unmet. When our expectations are not met, then we develop distrust because we can’t trust the person to do what we expect.

As human beings created in the image of God, we possess the same emotions and expectations as God. We feel love and give love in an emotionally healthy environment that is free from sin. Unfortunately, we were also born with a sinful nature that causes us instinctively to be self-centered individuals. As sinners, we seek to please our fleshly desires. So, a child will love their parents when they feel loved as their needs and wants are met. But, when a child does not get their sinful desire, wants, or expectations met, they lash out in anger or other sinful behaviors. Immature adults do the same because of unhealthy beliefs.

As adults, we expect our friends and spouses to be loyal, faithful, and truthful. We desire to feel secure in our relationships. But when our loved one lies to us, gossips, slanders, is abusive (physically, emotionally, or mentally), or cheats on us, we feel betrayed and develop justifiable mistrust. No one likes to confront a person for sinful behavior that is ruining the relationship. Still, it is necessary to remove the source of emotional pain and forgive for the relationship to heal.

The distrust belief causes us not to trust God. I wrote several posts on this topic as well that will be helpful to read.

Pt. 2: Why You Can a nd Cannot Trust God?

Trust God to Keep His Promises

15 Promises We Can Trust God to Keep

HOPE: How it Motivates and Inspires BUT God’s Sovereignty…

How To Change Unhealthy Beliefs

1. To transform unhealthy beliefs, recognize you have them. Listen to what you are saying and pay attention to your thoughts and feelings.

2. Submit the wrong thinking to God and ask Him to show you the truth and give you the grace and courage to transform them.

3. Ask God to show you if there is a painful memory controlling your thoughts and decisions.

4. Pray and put off the unhealthy belief controlling your thoughts and put on the truth God shows you from His Word.

I first loosed the wrong thinking that God showed me and replaced it with scripture truths like the following:

It is safe to trust God and do what is good, and He will direct me. Ps. 37:3-5
I can trust God’s faithfulness to be a shield around me as I put my trust in Him, and I will not be afraid. Ps. 91:4; 56:4,11
Trust believes God does good things, and I don’t need to be troubled, for He is my salvation. John 14:1; Isa. 25:9
I can be trusted, and I am faithful with what God has given me. Lk. 16:10
I can trust and believe my life has a purpose, and God has a plan for my life, which gives me hope. Jer. 29:11-14
As I trust in God, He is my refuge, and His unfailing love and favor surround me. Ps. 32:10; 7:1; 5:12
When I trust and believe in Jesus, I will not be disappointed. Rom. 9:33; I Peter 2:6b
I will not put my hope in the uncertainty of riches but in God, who richly supplies me with all things to enjoy. I Tim. 6:17; Phil 4:19
I am blessed when I trust and hope in the Lord, and I make Him my confidence. Jer. 17:7

HOW MEMORIES INFLUENCE OUR THINKING, EMOTIONS, AND BEHAVIOR

All verses are from the English Standard Bible unless otherwise indicated. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected. No part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom and this website.

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, salvation for non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name so I know you are a person making the request.

Diminish the “Self-centered” Belief to Expand Goodness (Other-centered)

Being self-centered looks different for each person. According to my experience, a self-centered person is concerned more about themselves and lacks empathy for others. Someone who complains and argues and criticizes is self-centered. Addicts and criminals are classic examples of being self-centered; they have no concern for those they hurt. Even shy and depressed people are self-centered because they are focused on themselves and their shame, guilt, inadequacies, and feeling devalued. I learned that narcissism falls under self-centeredness.

Self-centered people find it difficult to give or share with others, in-other-words, be good to people and value their interests. They are good at controlling and manipulating people to get them to do what they want. For example, when I didn’t get what I thought I needed or wanted, I would become angry and destructive to get what I wanted. As God has been transforming my mind by His Word, and as I submit my will to Him and put off arrogant pride, I have become less self-centered and able to value the needs of others. If everyone were honest, they would acknowledge they struggle with being self-centered and with selfishness. If you want to learn more, read this article: https://drmichaelmcgee.com/self-centeredness/. Dr. McGee is part of the Well Mind Community. Though this article is not Christ-focused, it does give another perspective.

What is Goodness?

Goodness is humbly considering others’ interests and needs, as well as your own. Goodness is the desire to help others and often sacrificially help others, even those you think do not deserve it. Good people do what is right and honorable in all situations and are morally excellent. You can only be truly good when you love others as Christ loves them. Many people think they are good people when they compare themselves with other people who do bad things.

Those who grew up in dysfunctional homes with self-centered, sinful people did not learn goodness by example. If goodness does not come naturally to you, seek God to show you the painful memories of past hurts and humiliations because those memories control your thoughts, beliefs, and behavior. Painful memories develop self-protective beliefs discussed in the last post. Self-centeredness is a form of self-protection because you don’t believe others have your best interest in mind.

The story about the good Samaritan demonstrates goodness (Luke 10:25-34). To learn more about goodness, please read Part 1: How to Achieve Genuine Goodness.

How To Change Unhealthy Beliefs

1. To transform unhealthy beliefs, recognize you have them. Listen to what you are saying and pay attention to your thoughts. Being mindful of your thoughts helps you acknowledge and let go of negative ruminations about the past and anxious thoughts about the future. Meditate instead on how to solve your problems or submit them to God if they are outside your control

2. Submit the wrong thinking to God and ask Him to show you the truth.

3. Ask God to show you if there is a painful memory controlling your thoughts and decisions.

4. Pray and put off the unhealthy belief controlling your thoughts and put on the truth God shows you from His Word.

I first loosed the wrong thinking that God showed me and replaced it with scripture truths like the following:

When I do what is good, I will receive glory, honor, and peace. Rom. 2:10; 13:3b

Because of God’s goodness to and in me, I can be good to those who mistreat or hate me. Luke 6:27; Matt. 5:44; Ps. 25:4-7; 31:19

I can look out for other people’s interests above my own (Phil. 2:14) and please others for their good. Rom. 15:2

I am ready for every good deed, to malign no one, be peaceable, gentle, and show every consideration (true humility) for everyone. Titus 3:1,2

I can give a blessing instead of returning evil for evil and seek to do good to all people. 1 Pet. 3:9; 1 Thes. 5:15

After I received Jesus as my Savior (saved from sin and God’s wrath); He began a good work in me, and He will complete it (Phil. 1:6). I am His workmanship, created for good works. Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12b,13

I know I have goodness when my mouth speaks what is good (Matt. 12:34b,35), which is the fruit of the Spirit and Light in me (Gal. 5:22) along with righteousness and truth (Eph. 5:7-10). I am known by my fruit (Matt. 7:20) and engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs. Titus 3:14

I will not lose heart in doing good, knowing I will be rewarded. When I have the opportunity, I will be good to all people, especially to those belonging to the family of God. Gal. 6:9,10; Eh. 6:7,8

HOW MEMORIES INFLUENCE OUR THINKING, EMOTIONS, AND BEHAVIOR

WHY HEAL YOUR HEART AND PURIFY YOUR SOUL?

Five Steps to Heal Your Heart and Purify Your Soul