Signs of Abuse and Abusive Relationships
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone, yet the problem is often overlooked, excused, or denied. This is especially true when the abuse is psychological, rather than physical. Emotional abuse is often minimized, yet it can leave deep and lasting scars.
Noticing and acknowledging the warning signs and symptoms of domestic violence and abuse is the first step to ending it. No one should live in fear of the person they love.
Understanding domestic violence and abuse
Domestic abuse, also known as spousal abuse, occurs when one person in an intimate relationship or marriage tries to dominate and control the other person. Domestic abuse that includes physical violence is called domestic violence.
Domestic violence and abuse are used for one purpose and one purpose only: to gain and maintain total control over you. An abuser doesn’t “play fair.” Abusers use fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to wear you down and keep you under their thumb. Your abuser may also threaten you, hurt you, or hurt those around you.
Domestic violence and abuse do not discriminate. It happens among heterosexual couples and in same-sex partnerships. It occurs within all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and financial levels. And while women are more commonly victimized, especially verbally and emotionally.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
THE SPIRIT WORLD
"The spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world" (1 John 4:4).
Marina was a teenager when she became a spiritist medium. When I met her, she was 25 and already bound by Satan and evil spirits. The first three weeks of those months that several other believers and I lived with Marina and her husband were a time of terrible spiritual battle.
Every evening we laid hands on Marina, praying for her deliverance. The evil spirits tried to kill her and also to harm us, but they couldn't. We resisted the Satanic forces and pleaded the protection of the blood of Jesus. Slowly the evil spirits left. The power of God was greater and soon Marina was completely free! She could tell everyone, "Greater is God that is in me, than Satan or any evil spirit in the world!"
Marina became a member of God's family, part of the church that we have just studied about. Only God controlled her and only the Holy Spirit lived in her.
Perhaps you. too, have seen the power of Satan working. But you don't have to be afraid. The power of God is greater! In this lesson we will learn about the forces of the spirit world and the protection that we as believers have in Christ.
SATAN AND EVIL SPIRITS
Satan is a wicked angel who was cast out of heaven because he wanted to exalt himself above God. Isaiah 14:14-15 says, "You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead."
The bad angels who followed him met a like fate: "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell" (2 Peter 2:4). Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). Satan (sometimes called Lucifer or the devil) tries to turn men and women away from serving the living God. First Peter 5:8 warns us, "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."
Evil spirits work with Satan to hurt and destroy people. Matthew 8:28-34 tells of two men who were driven insane because they were possessed by evil spirits or demons. But the power of God has always been greater than the power of the devil. Jesus showed that power by casting the demons out of the men.
"When evening came. People brought to Jesus many who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, 'He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases'" (Matthew 8:16-17).
When Christ comes to set up His kingdom on earth, Satan will be cast into hell.
"Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10).
When you are faced by temptations from Satan or are in danger because of evil spirits, you can stand against him. James 4:7 says, "Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you."
One way to resist the devil is to say it out loud. You could say something like this: "I resist the devil. He has no power over me because I am a child of God. I am covered and protected by the blood of Jesus that has overcome Satan and all his evil angels."
"Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed" (Revelation 12:11).
As we will study in the next section, God sends His angels to be of service to you. You have nothing to fear if you are a child of God!
Marina was a teenager when she became a spiritist medium. When I met her, she was 25 and already bound by Satan and evil spirits. The first three weeks of those months that several other believers and I lived with Marina and her husband were a time of terrible spiritual battle.
Every evening we laid hands on Marina, praying for her deliverance. The evil spirits tried to kill her and also to harm us, but they couldn't. We resisted the Satanic forces and pleaded the protection of the blood of Jesus. Slowly the evil spirits left. The power of God was greater and soon Marina was completely free! She could tell everyone, "Greater is God that is in me, than Satan or any evil spirit in the world!"
Marina became a member of God's family, part of the church that we have just studied about. Only God controlled her and only the Holy Spirit lived in her.
Perhaps you. too, have seen the power of Satan working. But you don't have to be afraid. The power of God is greater! In this lesson we will learn about the forces of the spirit world and the protection that we as believers have in Christ.
SATAN AND EVIL SPIRITS
Satan is a wicked angel who was cast out of heaven because he wanted to exalt himself above God. Isaiah 14:14-15 says, "You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead."
The bad angels who followed him met a like fate: "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell" (2 Peter 2:4). Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). Satan (sometimes called Lucifer or the devil) tries to turn men and women away from serving the living God. First Peter 5:8 warns us, "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."
Evil spirits work with Satan to hurt and destroy people. Matthew 8:28-34 tells of two men who were driven insane because they were possessed by evil spirits or demons. But the power of God has always been greater than the power of the devil. Jesus showed that power by casting the demons out of the men.
"When evening came. People brought to Jesus many who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, 'He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases'" (Matthew 8:16-17).
When Christ comes to set up His kingdom on earth, Satan will be cast into hell.
"Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10).
When you are faced by temptations from Satan or are in danger because of evil spirits, you can stand against him. James 4:7 says, "Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you."
One way to resist the devil is to say it out loud. You could say something like this: "I resist the devil. He has no power over me because I am a child of God. I am covered and protected by the blood of Jesus that has overcome Satan and all his evil angels."
"Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed" (Revelation 12:11).
As we will study in the next section, God sends His angels to be of service to you. You have nothing to fear if you are a child of God!
VERSE OF THE DAY
Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed.
- Revelation 12:11
RESULT OF SALVATION
What happens to you when you accept salvation? A definite spiritual change, a transformation, takes place. Sometimes this is called a change of heart. Second Corinthians 7:10 says, "For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation." Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come." This change can be seen in several ways. Sometimes a person's attitude toward life changes from sad to happy, or perhaps he now loves someone he couldn't love before.
There can also be physical transformations. Those who have been bound by habits such as alcoholism can be set free. The Lord is powerful to make any changes necessary in the person who now believes on Him.
To accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior also means to be born into the family of God.
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
John 3:5-7
John 1:12-13 says, "Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father."
The Bible also speaks of adoption which brings out a similar relationship. By adoption we are received into God's family. God makes us His children, giving us all the rights of inheritance that belong to the sons of God.
"God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share in Christ's suffering we will also share his glory" (Romans 8:16-17).
Being in the family of God is special. This is why you will hear Christians call each other "brother" or "sister." This is a way of saying, "We belong to the same family."
There can also be physical transformations. Those who have been bound by habits such as alcoholism can be set free. The Lord is powerful to make any changes necessary in the person who now believes on Him.
To accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior also means to be born into the family of God.
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
John 3:5-7
John 1:12-13 says, "Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father."
The Bible also speaks of adoption which brings out a similar relationship. By adoption we are received into God's family. God makes us His children, giving us all the rights of inheritance that belong to the sons of God.
"God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share in Christ's suffering we will also share his glory" (Romans 8:16-17).
Being in the family of God is special. This is why you will hear Christians call each other "brother" or "sister." This is a way of saying, "We belong to the same family."
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