Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for trusting us with this honest update and for seeking prayer as you work through these difficult experiences. It is encouraging to hear that God has been showing you more about His grace and about the area of forgiveness, and that you want to walk in freedom from the influences that came into your life during your time in the new age.
Scripture makes it clear that evil spirits are real, intelligent beings who are opposed to God and who seek to harass and deceive, yet they are not free to do as they please. When Jesus encountered them, they cried out and begged not to be sent before their time to the place of confinement prepared for them, which shows His complete authority over them. They are under God's limit and timing, and they cannot pass beyond what He allows. That same Jesus who has authority over them now lives in every person who has trusted Him for salvation. The Bible says greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, and that there is no fellowship between light and darkness or between Christ and the enemy of our souls. If you belong to Jesus, you belong to Him fully. You do not need to live in fear that you are left exposed to be owned or controlled by those powers.
At the same time God shows us that unforgiveness is a very destructive thing. It eats away at the heart, brings mental turmoil and unrest, and gives the enemy a foothold. Scripture connects our willingness to forgive others with our own experience of God's forgiveness, not because we earn His forgiveness, but because a heart that has truly received His mercy learns to release others to Him. God has made provision for reconciliation through Jesus alone, who though He knew no sin was made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is pure grace. When we come to Him for our own need of forgiveness, for His provision and guidance and deliverance, He freely gives it. From that place of having been forgiven much, we are able to forgive.
Your desire to make peace where there has been harassment comes from a good impulse, and Scripture does say that as far as it depends on us we should live at peace with all people. Yet forgiveness in the biblical sense and reconciliation are not always the same thing. Forgiveness is a matter of the heart before God, where you choose to release the debt, to stop brooding over the wrong, to leave justice and vengeance in His hands and to walk away from the need to hold on to the offense. Reconciliation requires repentance and safety on both sides, and it is not always possible or wise to pursue direct contact, especially when there has been harassment. Trying to earn deliverance by appeasing people can become another burden. True deliverance comes from Christ Himself.
It may help to bring this specifically to the Lord in this way: confess honestly where unforgiveness has lingered, receive again His complete forgiveness through Jesus, and then in His strength choose to forgive those who have harassed you, releasing them to God rather than holding the injury close. Ask Him to help you not to brood over what happened but to leave it with Him. If there is a wise and safe way to live at peace without putting yourself back into harm, pursue that quietly as God leads, but do not feel that you must force a relationship to be free. Your freedom rests on what Jesus has done and on His power in you, not on whether others respond well.
We are praying for you that God will deepen your assurance of His forgiveness and His keeping power, that He will heal the places where unforgiveness has brought turmoil, that He will grant you discernment about how to pursue peace without reopening harm, and that you will know His deliverance and peace in daily life. May He help you to watch and to keep close to Him, clothed in His righteousness, walking in a forgiving spirit and in the confidence that you are sealed and kept by Him.
Father, we lift this dear one to You in the name of Jesus. Thank You for drawing them out of darkness and into Your light and for the grace You have already shown in revealing the need to forgive. We ask You to pour out Your forgiveness afresh, to cleanse and heal the heart, and to give the grace to forgive as You have forgiven. Take away the torment and harassment of the enemy by Your authority, and let Your presence bring quietness and strength. Grant wisdom for every relationship and for every step toward peace, protecting from further harm and leading in the way of wisdom. Fill this life with the knowledge that greater are You who dwells within than any power in this world, and keep this one in Your perfect peace. Amen.
Scripture makes it clear that evil spirits are real, intelligent beings who are opposed to God and who seek to harass and deceive, yet they are not free to do as they please. When Jesus encountered them, they cried out and begged not to be sent before their time to the place of confinement prepared for them, which shows His complete authority over them. They are under God's limit and timing, and they cannot pass beyond what He allows. That same Jesus who has authority over them now lives in every person who has trusted Him for salvation. The Bible says greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, and that there is no fellowship between light and darkness or between Christ and the enemy of our souls. If you belong to Jesus, you belong to Him fully. You do not need to live in fear that you are left exposed to be owned or controlled by those powers.
At the same time God shows us that unforgiveness is a very destructive thing. It eats away at the heart, brings mental turmoil and unrest, and gives the enemy a foothold. Scripture connects our willingness to forgive others with our own experience of God's forgiveness, not because we earn His forgiveness, but because a heart that has truly received His mercy learns to release others to Him. God has made provision for reconciliation through Jesus alone, who though He knew no sin was made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is pure grace. When we come to Him for our own need of forgiveness, for His provision and guidance and deliverance, He freely gives it. From that place of having been forgiven much, we are able to forgive.
Your desire to make peace where there has been harassment comes from a good impulse, and Scripture does say that as far as it depends on us we should live at peace with all people. Yet forgiveness in the biblical sense and reconciliation are not always the same thing. Forgiveness is a matter of the heart before God, where you choose to release the debt, to stop brooding over the wrong, to leave justice and vengeance in His hands and to walk away from the need to hold on to the offense. Reconciliation requires repentance and safety on both sides, and it is not always possible or wise to pursue direct contact, especially when there has been harassment. Trying to earn deliverance by appeasing people can become another burden. True deliverance comes from Christ Himself.
It may help to bring this specifically to the Lord in this way: confess honestly where unforgiveness has lingered, receive again His complete forgiveness through Jesus, and then in His strength choose to forgive those who have harassed you, releasing them to God rather than holding the injury close. Ask Him to help you not to brood over what happened but to leave it with Him. If there is a wise and safe way to live at peace without putting yourself back into harm, pursue that quietly as God leads, but do not feel that you must force a relationship to be free. Your freedom rests on what Jesus has done and on His power in you, not on whether others respond well.
We are praying for you that God will deepen your assurance of His forgiveness and His keeping power, that He will heal the places where unforgiveness has brought turmoil, that He will grant you discernment about how to pursue peace without reopening harm, and that you will know His deliverance and peace in daily life. May He help you to watch and to keep close to Him, clothed in His righteousness, walking in a forgiving spirit and in the confidence that you are sealed and kept by Him.
Father, we lift this dear one to You in the name of Jesus. Thank You for drawing them out of darkness and into Your light and for the grace You have already shown in revealing the need to forgive. We ask You to pour out Your forgiveness afresh, to cleanse and heal the heart, and to give the grace to forgive as You have forgiven. Take away the torment and harassment of the enemy by Your authority, and let Your presence bring quietness and strength. Grant wisdom for every relationship and for every step toward peace, protecting from further harm and leading in the way of wisdom. Fill this life with the knowledge that greater are You who dwells within than any power in this world, and keep this one in Your perfect peace. Amen.
