The darkness within by booksbybrendan

Brendan Mc Crossan

THE DARKNESS WITHIN

By Brendan Mc Crossan copyright@7-7-2008

The Darkness Within

Chapter one

As we obey this commandment to love one another, the darkness in our lives disappears, & the new light of Christ shines within. 1-John-2-8

All of us have dark areas in our lives, areas that we don’t want others to see or know about and of course Satan knows all about them, he uses them to keep us in bondage keeping us away from the love and knowledge of God. Thankfully we have a way out from these dark areas of our lives it is God’s word, a light to the world.

Have you fought against these dark forces within you all your life without much success like I have until now, crying out to God to help you change and become a better Christian? Theses are areas where Satan has been in control for years and years and you resisted with all your might and still you failed. Pleading with God didn’t change things, rebuking Satan didn’t change things, resisting the thoughts ended up futile as once more you gave in and sinned.

The Holy Spirit has revealed to me that change couldn’t come until I done certain things. It wasn’t until I read the previous scripture that understanding was given to me. It was as if scales were removed from my eyes and suddenly I could see clearly what this particular scripture really meant.

If I didn’t walk in the love God required that I walk in as a Christian then I had dark areas in my life which Satan controlled. Habitual sins were locked inside me because Darkness was within my soul and Satan had access to me, and I did not realize he had control over me, in these areas.

Because the darkness was there it was difficult for me to be a solid good Christian, I had a running battle with Satan every day of my life just like you are having running battles with Satan in areas of your life every day and he seems to be succeeding. Today the lord has come to set you free from the years of bondage that Satan has controlled you in, areas that really belong to God. His Spirit lives within your body, and he wants a clean, fresh body to dwell in, and declares that today is the day of your freedom.

We have a part to play in God’s cleansing plan; it is obedience to his word, doing what he says to do will set you free. You may be saying I have done everything I can to live a good Christian life. But have you done what Jesus said to do, “love one another?”

“Oh yes I had done that you may be thinking or saying,” but are there still things hidden within you that you don’t realize are sin that you commit on a daily basis. For instance is there anyone

in your life that you need to forgive? Is there someone that you hold a grudge against? Is there someone who done you terrible wrong, someone that hurt you deeply? Do you still hold un-forgiveness against someone?

“Oh no I made a decision to forgive everyone who ever hurt me years ago, it is all gone now,” you may reply to my questions. If you have, praise the lord, if you have not, then you need to forgive all whom you hold un-forgiveness against, other wise you give the devil a mighty foothold in your life.

But it is not un-forgiveness that I am really on about, though if you need to forgive someone you had better decide to do it now, otherwise as scripture says; “you will go to the torture chamber and be kept there until you have paid your debt. Read my book “Un-forgiveness the price it costs you.” for a full explanation of not forgiving someone.

What I am concerned about in this little book is the commandment that the lord gives us to love one another which goes even deeper in verse, 1-John-2-11.

1-John-2-11- Anyone who says he is Walking in the light, but dislikes his fellow man is still in darkness.

God is saying that you are not even allowed to dislike your fellow man because it causes you to remain in darkness. Is there someone you can think of right now that you do not like at all? Somebody that you just can’t abide to be in their company, I’m sure there are many people that you just don’t like. I always thought it was ok not to like someone as long as I loved them. Then through reading the scriptures that I am quoting to you and future scriptures I will refer to, I realized there are hundreds that I don’t like. As I write this there is at least one person I immediately thought of whom I totally dislike and I have called him all sorts of names; referring to his attitude and personality, making fun of him. I was horrified to discover that because of my dislike of him I had opened a door inside me to darkness and this allowed Satan to get control in many other areas of my life. Once Satan gets a foothold inside of you, he then can work on other areas in your life using different tactics. I did not wish anything bad on this person but I sure a heck did not like him. Disliking him then led me into the sin of ridicule as I called him many harsh names, making a joke of him, talking about him to others just about stopping from saying terrible bad things about him.

This was only one person and the amount of times I sinned my soul by my dislike of him and ridiculing him was enormous, he hurt me and my family and I didn’t like him and I said so every opportunity I got. I never realized I was sinning because I always said, “OH I FORGIVE HIM” like heck I did, and I realize that now of course. Do you also realize now, what you are doing? Forgiving him means to love him like Jesus loved him. Not liking him meant I didn’t love him like I and you have been commanded to do, Oh yes! The previous scripture is a commandment from God not a request.

Twenty-five years ago I heard a preacher say there are different levels to forgiveness but I didn’t understand that at the time. I forgave him ok, but now I realize that I just don’t like him. I realize that I need to forgive him at a deeper level, with all my heart, not just because it is a decision but, because I want to like him and grow to love him like Jesus does. All this is for

my benefit no one else’s, for “my” spiritual growth, to keep the way clear between God and I and to remove Satan’s foothold’s in my life. Maybe you need to get right with God in all areas of your life. Don’t be like me taking twenty-five years to come to the point of forgiveness I needed to come to.

Chapter two

Drawing Closer to God

1-John-2-28- stay in happy fellowship with the lord so that when he returns you will be sure that all is well and will not have to be ashamed and shrink back from meeting him.

Is there something in you that makes you shrink back subconsciously from drawing closer to God? Is there something that is within you that is holding you back from approaching the throne of God, boldly, with confidence, and assurance that you will be welcomed by God?

Dark areas inside us that lie deep in our subconscious mind are the things that are holding us back from drawing closer to our loving father and Jesus. These dark areas has taken such a deep root that we are not even aware that we are doing wrong before God but our subconscious mind, or should I say our Spirit, is aware and that is why we fail to draw near to God. Subconsciously we know there is something between us and God that has stopped us from doing what God’s word tells us to do, but we don’t know what it is. Now today you are finding out and freedom is on its way to you, Glory to God.

It is bad enough to think, that because of our dislike of someone for whom Jesus died, prevents us from drawing closer to God, now this following scripture shocks us even more.

1-John-3-15- anyone who hates his Christian brother {sister, uncle aunt relative or neighbor etc} is really a “murderer at heart” {par}

Oh my God! This is a terrible shock to me; I know I didn’t like someone and I disliked them intensely, but how near to being a murderer at heart am I? Hatred and intense dislike are so close to each other. Am I bordering on being a murderer at heart? How close am I lord to those feelings? How close are you who read this to being a murderer at heart, according to God’s word?

No wonder I feel that something inside of me is causing me to keep my distance from God. How can I draw close to Father God and Jesus and have confidence in his Holy Spirit if I am a murderer at heart. Don’t worry! God is revealing those dark areas today to you so that you can come with confidence before him. This is not another reason to keep you away from God. No it is your chance to get rid of the darkness inside and bring the whole lot into the light of Christ and get rid of it once and for all. This is good news not bad. Revealing the darkness and bringing it into the light is for your good. Don’t be afraid of confronting the dark areas inside, instead approach it joyfully and with confidence and know that God is on your side, removing Satan’s darkness.

Psalm-32-1 what happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record?

Isn’t it great to have your sins removed and the record destroyed; And the closer you draw to God the more your secrete sins are revealed, things you didn’t even think were sins, like disliking someone. You thought you were getting worse and instead of that you were drawing closer to God and by doing so he reveals the darkness within. His light is intensifying, and reveals the darkness bringing it into the light for your good and his glory. He is making you more and more into his image.

John-3-30- He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less.

Indeed me when I confess my dislike for others and then pray for them as Jesus would do, the less sin remains within. Even after we do all this, I’M sure that there are other areas in our lives that need sorting out, but that is for another day, we have enough to do with what we have discovered. The less there is of me the more there is of him growing inside me when I remove the dislike of others from me. I want less of me and more and more of him filling me.

It’s not worth disliking others when you realize how much it affects you spiritually. The best thing that we could do is to pray sincerely for every person individually, for a little time asking God to bless them; asking God for his love for them, and kill off the feelings of dislike. Murder the feeling of dislike. It is better to murder the feelings of dislike that to be as scripture says; a murderer at heart.

1-John-3-15- anyone who hates his Christian brother {sister, uncle aunt relative or neighbor etc} is really a “murderer at heart” {Paraphrased}

Remember ‘dislike’ is a feeling, an emotion, and we have authority over our feelings and emotions, in our faith walk with God; we make decisions as Christians. We walk not by sight, or feelings or emotions but by faith.

Chapter three.

A shocking testimony.

Jesus died for the people you and I dislike, he laid down his life for them just as he laid down his life for you and me, and now I must put on the mind of Christ Jesus. From this moment on every time I think of someone I dislike I will put his mind on me and try and think as Jesus would think. Saying to myself; is this the way Jesus would think about this person? And if not then I need to change my thinking and resist the thoughts of dislike. It is not going to be easy but it can be done because Jesus would not expect you or I to do something we didn’t have power to do.

Our human love is conditional and does not go deep enough to be able to accept others or bless those whom we dislike, but the love we have within us from God is sufficient to do so.

Have you ever given a thought to that person you don’t like? For example; what makes them so dislikeable? Why are they dislikeable, why have some changed and become dislikeable? What has happened in their life that has made them this way? That is why God is able to love the unlovable. He can see what each person endured in their life. There was no child born dislikeable, no one was born with an attitude problem, they developed one through the years because of things that happened them. Or believed they were above others because they developed a better position in life, a bigger car a larger house, or a boat, things that others could not afford, and they began looking down their noses on others not so well off.

I met a man who would beat his wife almost to death regularly. He starved his children and tied them to their chairs and they ate the plastic on their high chairs because they were starving to death as he laid drunk downstairs while his wife lay in hospital recovering from a fake accident, or he went out to a pub. He used to boast to others of doing these things. For years he would do this until social services finally took his children off him. He had a mean streak in him a mile wide and when I first sat with him, it was to prevent him from going home during a retreat we were both at, and getting a gun, and come back and killing three men at that retreat. He was an ex police officer who had a legally held firearm. As I sat talking to him, trying to calm him down he talked through his anger, of many things, things that he suffered during his life. A more broken man you have never met in all your life. I prayed with this man many times over the next few years and God poured his love into him each time. He has finally realized what a terrible person he was and repented, and asked Jesus into his life, and Jesus is slowly changing and healing him, remember I said, slowly changing him.

Years later I was at a retreat and this man gave his testimony and people had to be physically held in their seats by others, and stopped from running up to him and tearing him apart as he told what he had done, and in his simple way, he told it like he wasn’t sorry for what he had done, but I knew he was, because I prayed with him three times before he gave his testimony and he wanted people to know that he was different but the poor man didn’t sound like he was sorry and the lovely Christian brothers and sisters wanted to tear this man apart. He laughed nervously, during his testimony and people misconstrued that as unrepentant. The priest, who was one of those he wanted to kill, stood with his arm around him praying with him as he spoke, and afterwards trying to explain discretely that this man was truly repentant. Inside this poor being was ever so sorry for the harm he had done on his wife and his children, and longed to see them again and it broke him to pieces when social services understandably refused him access to his children for years.

I liked and loved this man from the beginning because I knew through praying with him he was repentant, but couldn’t articulate, so others could see it. I knew what he had done and even more, as he shared with me in depth as I prayed with him.

Do you know someone right like that, outwardly seem like a total evil person, but what have they gone through in their live? Do you put your feelings aside like I did with this man and try

to understand him. I gave this mans life as an example to you of the dislikeable becoming likeable when you get behind the person and their life. Jesus sees their life he doesn’t need words of knowledge like I did when praying with this man, he knows everyone including you, through and through. Others I just didn’t like, and now I know I have darkness inside me because of this. Now I know that I can change because if I could love and like this man then I can love those whom I don’t like even more so.

Remember what I said previously, that dislike is a feeling, it’s an emotion and Jesus on the cross showed us that we can put aside our feelings of dislike and put on the mind of Christ when ever we wish to do so. We do it with faith issues in our praying, we put aside the feeling that we won’t get what we asked God for and we choose to believe until we get what we asked for in faith.

Were not as helpless as it might seem, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us helping us in every area of our lives and now he is helping us grow closer to God by revealing the darkness within. Isn’t God so good, he reveals our darkest secrets to us, bringing them into the light for us to see and get rid of?

Someone read what I was writing and declared that they hated another person intensely, but forgave them anyway. I replied; you should read the rest of this little book when I’M finished and you will discover that anyone hating his Christian Brother or sister etc is really a murderer at heart.

They were totally shocked to discover that hating someone was making them a murderer at heart, that in their heart they harbored the feelings of murder. {God’s words not mine} This disliking someone is getting precarious to learn about, because it is revealing other areas still controlled by Satan, and he won’t like his dark secrets being brought into the light. To dislike someone intensely for whom Jesus died, is bordering on hatred which in turn, makes you a murderer at heart. If you don’t love people then you are close to the edge of a heart filled with murder.

Is it worth it to dislike someone or even to hate them? Not as far as I’M concerned! My spiritual life is difficult enough trying to live as Jesus would want me to, and now I am discovering I am far away from the love of Christ within me when I dislike someone. I see the word of God and from this day on I will not allow feelings of dislike to reside within me I will chose to bless the dislikeable person and “pray for my love to grow for them,” not for them to become loveable but for me to learn to love them as Christ does.

Learning that disliking someone is keeping me in spiritual darkness was a shock to me, and thank God for his love for me, that allowed him to bless me and to use me for healing and loving others over the last 30 years since I gave my life to him. Now after 30 years walking with God IM being taught that to dislike someone was causing me to walk in spiritual darkness making me spiritually blind? I am grateful to God for finally showing me this truth in his word, it took 30 years but God has been merciful to me and is now revealing this truth to me so that I may begin to grow even more in his love and power.

1-John-2-11-for he who dislikes his brother is wandering in spiritual darkness and doesn’t know where he is going, for the darkness has made him blind so that he cannot see the way. {Jesus is the way}{The truth} {And the light} {Par}

Have you ever felt that it was so difficult to keep Jesus in sight in your walk with him and you wandered away and back into sin again and again? Now we know that to dislike someone causes to loose sight of Jesus and wander in spiritual darkness. These words are God’s word not mine you can think what you like, but is it what Jesus would want you to think?

What if people could see the darkness in you, would they like you? If people could see what you are thinking would they like you? If they had access to the dark recess of your soul would they think you are the wonderful Christian you present to the world? Would you be likeable? If your husband or wife could see your secrete thoughts would you even have a marriage left? We all have darkness in our lives and the time is coming for Jesus to return in fullness of power and might for his bride. He wants his bride cleansed and holy and prepared for his return when ever that might be. He doesn’t want a bride filled with dark areas he wants the light of the Holy Spirit shining in every corner presenting him with a beautiful glowing bride.

Chapter four

Making Love Grow.

John4-12-when we love each other Godlivesinusand“his love” grows everstronger.

Praise the Lord love can grow and doing things that God tells us to makes love grow. This scripture tells us that God lives in us and that His love grows ever stronger. What makes his love grow? When we love each other! How can we love each other if we cannot even like each other? If we want to grow in the love of Christ then dislike of others has to go.

1-John-4-17-and as we live with Christ “our love” grows more perfect and complete, so we will not be embarrassed or ashamed on the Day of Judgment. But can face him with complete confidence and joy because we love him too.

Can you see the difference between those two scriptures?

1-John-4-12-says when we love each other “his love grows” stronger in us-

1 John-4-17-says as we live with Christ “our love” grows more perfect and complete

There is a distinct difference between the two loves, his love and our love but both have the capabilities for growth. Do you, like me, long to grow in love, either his love or our love? I want to grow in both loves now that I can see that both can grow as they are being fed. Look at how much love God has for us by revealing the dislike of others to us we have learned that we can grow in both loves our love and his love! Here’s how we can begin to make love grow.

1-John-4-7-dear friends let us practice loving each other for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God.

This is how you can grow in the love of God by practice. I am a guitar player and the only way I became very good at it was through practice and I practiced every day, every chance I got to play my brothers guitar I took it, {I didn’t have one of my own at that time.}

I understand the principles of learning the guitar came by practice so now I can apply that to the people I have disliked. You might not be a guitar player, or musician, but there was something you had to practice at as you grew up, maybe it was learning to drive or learning the computer, school work, or baseball or something that you needed to practice, and practice involves work, and work isn’t easy.

1-John-4-20-if anyone says, “I love God” but goes on hating his brother {or sister etc} he is a liar. For if he / she doesn’t love his brother/sister etc who is right there in front of them, how can you say you love God whom you have never seen, and God has said one must love not only God but his brother / sister /etc too. {Etc= everyone in this world} {Par}

The closer you draw to God, the closer he draws to you, and the more intense his light shines inside you, revealing the hidden things of darkness. His light shines in and reveals those things, like dislike of others and other things that are hidden inside and lets you remove them with his love and power. He lights them up, you remove them, God won’t, you have to, and no one else and it’s your free choice. If you love people you won’t lust after them, you won’t steal from them, you won’t want what doesn’t belong to you and so on, and you will be doing what the Ten Commandments say to do, and so your darkness disappears, and the light of Christ shines in.

Did you know that disliking someone stops you from receiving your miracles from God? How? You are in direct disobedience to God’s commandment.

1-John-2-8 as we obey this “commandment” to love one another, the darkness in our lives disappears, & the new light of Christ shines within.

This is a commandment from God not a request that you love one another, and you do not love one another if you dislike someone.

1-John-3-21- if our conscience are clear we can come to the lord with perfect assurance and trust and get what we ask for. {If your conscience is not clear, then you wont get what you ask for} and you wonder why your prayers are not answered.

Have you understood yet that disliking your brother etc; makes you spiritually blind, and if you’re spiritually blind then you won’t see what other areas Satan has wormed his way into

and now controls? In this little lesson we are learning that disliking someone for whom Jesus died, opens the door to other areas where Satan can enter and stop your spiritual growth.

A friend just phoned me as I was writing this and I told him what I was writing and he said you can’t be expected to like everyone. If someone done something on you, you can’t be expected to like them. It’s different to see someone and you just didn’t like them for some reason, there’s a big difference between them. Did Jesus say in his word it’s ok to dislike someone for specific reasons or did he just say you are not allowed to dislike someone without exceptions?

I want to ask you a question and I want you to answer it truthfully; “Does Jesus dislike anyone for whom he died?”

Does the scripture; “he must become greater and greater and I must become less and less,” apply to you and me? If it does then what changes are you prepared to make to make this come true how much are you and I willing to sacrifice of ourselves to let him grow inside of you?

Have you been given the right to dislike someone? Did God say its ok for you to dislike your brother; etc, but for the rest of the Christian world they have to obey his command.

2-Peter-1-5-you must learn to “know God better” and discover what he wants you to do. Next learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and Godly, gladly letting God have his way with you. {7} this will make possible the “next step” which is for you to “enjoy other people” and to “like them”, and “finally” you “will grow to love them deeply.” The “more you go on in this way” the “more you will grow strong spiritually” and become “fruitful and useful” to our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Anyone who fails to go after these additions to faith” is “blind indeed” or at least very shortsighted, and has forgotten that “God has delivered him/ her” from the old life of sin so that now they can live a strong, good life for the Lord.

God has given us four steps for spiritual growth here in this scripture; you can take those steps or you can contradict God. You can tell God he is wrong and you can just dislike some people and like others when you please, but for those who want to grow spiritually and grow in faith we can obey what this scripture tells us to do. Remember something it isn’t me that made it a commandment to love people and to like people, it was God in his word, I’m only relaying the message as I get the message for me also.

1st step “you must learn to know God better” how can I get to know God better? By doing what he tells us to do in his word, taking time with him and asking what it is he wants from us. Worshiping him, praising him, spending time with him, doing things that please him, like helping others, putting on the mind of Christ,{how would Jesus think?} These are just some ways you can get to know God better. Obedience to the word of God helps us get to know God better, you can know what God thinks about everything if your continually reading and studying his word.

2nd step; Next learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and Godly. Stop thinking of you all the time; begin thinking of others putting them before you and

your wants. Put aside wrongful desires, like greed, lust, overeating, sinning and anything that has a hold of you that you gave first place to in your life. You more than anyone else know your own wrong desires. It’s not a sin to be fat; it is unhealthy but not a sin, unless you’re into gluttony, which is a sin. Lust is sinful because it usually involves wrong thoughts being in control. It can be controlled by the Spirit of God within you. Doing what this little book tells you will help set you free from most controlling area of your life which I’ll explain as I go along.

The Main way to grow here is to put others first.

3rd step; this will make possible the “next step” which is for you to “enjoy other people” and to “like them”, If you do the first two steps mentioned then as this scripture tells you this will make possible the “next step” which is for you to enjoy people and “to like them” You have to take the first two steps before you can begin to enjoy people and then to like them; you have to put you and your wishes aside. God makes things easier for us, by taking us a step at a time that is why it has taken us so long to get to this area of our lives that need to change to grow closer to God and more into his image. Could you say you reflect God’s image right now? Not liking your fellow man or woman?

4th step; and “finally” you “will grow to love them deeply.” It takes four steps before you finally grow to love people deeply just like Jesus does. Before you can truly love others you have to go through the first 3 steps, you can say you love others, butisGod convinced?You may befooling yourself;you may beblinded to thetruth spiritually like I was thinking I loved others just because I wanted good for them and choose this way. But If I didn’t like them then I didn’t really love them as Jesus loves them and that is the love he wants us to grow into. I was just fooling myself into thinking I loved people. Are you fooling yourself also? Remember human love is conditional, God’s love is unconditional, and which love does God want you to grow into?

As I read this the realization of what God is doing strikes me very forcibly. If I am learning to like people and then learning to love them I am also learning to like myself and to love myself unconditionally, I am being healed right now, and so are you who read this and decided to do what it says in these scriptures. Most people don’t like themselves, some do, or say they do, but very few Christians that I have ever prayed with in 30 years like themselves or love them self. If we are learning to like others unconditionally then we are also learning to like ourselves unconditionally and also learning to love ourselves unconditionally. What a Great God we have and how deep is his love for mankind and me.

It has taken me 30 years of walking with the Lord to get to this point before I would listen to or believe what God’s word says. 30 years! How patient is God with me? Wow! 30 years and me imagining that I am a good Christian when in fact I am still a baby Christian not doing as I am told and it has taken God 30 years to get me to the point of receiving his word, so that he can take me to a new level with him, closer to his divine image. How I thank him now for showing me these things and making me aware of them so that I can change them.

I have read those same scriptures time and time again and missed what they said. Remember I have been telling people for those 30 years its ok not to like someone as long as you love them. Now I can see you can’t love them until you take the first steps in the previous scripture. You have to get to enjoy them, then to get to like them before you get to love them

Chapter five Joy in the lord

Dislike of others stops you from having victory in your life. How can you have victory when you are in direct disobedience to God’s commandment to love one another and now you know you can’t love without first liking, if disliking someone causes you to walk in spiritual darkness then how can you have victory in every area of your life? You may have some areas of victory but is having victory in everything not a greater thing to have? If you’re spiritually blind then you cannot see where Satan is attacking you. A blind person cannot see in the natural, a spiritually blind person cannot see in the supernatural.

Do you realize that disliking someone robs you of joy?

1-John -1-4 and if you do as I say in this letter, then you will be full of joy and so will we.

What I am sharing is from the 1st letter of John, the whole letter.

Doing what God says in this letter of John will bring you joy. Do you have complete joy in your life? Do you have the joy of the lord always or is the joy coming and going only when things are going well for you.

Disliking someone robs you of your God given right to joy;{1} it causes you not only to be in disobedience to God’s word{2}, but causes you to walk in spiritual blindness.{3} These are just three things that stem from disliking someone for whom Jesus died for. Is it worth it to be robbed of your joy, your spiritual eyesight, and to be in disobedience to God?

God never said it was ok to dislike the politicians, the police, the doctors, the health visitors, social services, or someone you see. Jesus died for everyone without exceptions. Without exception! Weas Christians aresupposed to becomelikeJesus with his mind and attitude, love and mercy towards all, no one is left out by Jesus. So who gave you have the monopoly to just choose whom you like or dislike?

Jesus likes and loves all mankind even those who rejected him and crucified him. I write all these things to make you think like Jesus. If you stood before God today and he asked you; “Did you like the un-likeable” what would your answer be? Would you be able to say; “yes lord I did as you commanded”

For a long time I told people it was ok not to like someone who done them wrong as long as they didn’t wish evil on them, and to pray for them. Now I found out I was wrong, and it’s not ok to dislike someone, and that it caused me to wander in spiritual darkness, making me loose

my joy and be in disobedience to God’s commandment. I have been shown in God’s word that it is wrong to dislike someone for whom Jesus died and by doing so I sin by being in disobedience to God’s word.

Don’t judge and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned. Be merciful and you will be shown mercy. Forgive and you will be forgiven. The measure you use will be used against you.

All the above are God’s words, if you’re merciful God will be merciful towards you. If you forgive you will be forgiven, remember to receive forgiveness you must also forgive, it’s in the Lord’s Prayer. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

When Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself, he meant it. By loving your neighbor you are in effect learning to love and like yourself. Two things happen as a result of learning to like people and eventually learning to love them.

Here is something for you to ponder in your heart. Jesus said “love your neighbor as you love yourself” if you refuse to obey this command you are in rebellion against God and scripture says rebellion is as the spirit of witchcraft. “Rebellion is the spirit of witchcraft! And where does witchcraft come from? From Satan of course, do you want his spirit of witchcraft residing in you? He will if you are in rebellion deliberately disobeying God choosing to disobey God.

“IM not in rebellion,” you might be saying; but do you love your neighbor? Are you obeying God’s word liking your fellow man? {Remember liking comes before love, you can’t truly lovewithoutfirstliking}Ifnotthensimplyput,yourinrebellionifyournotwillingtochange. Defying God is rebellion; no matter what way you try and get around it rebellion is rebellion. Disobeying his commandments is rebellion plain and simple. We don’t like to think that we’re in rebellion do we? I don’t and yet I disobeyed God and didn’t like others, and God understood that you and I didn’t realize his word said, that we must not dislike our fellow man. I thought maybe God only meant that I am not to dislike Christians but then I realized that scripture says “your fellow man.”

I have become acutely aware of my dislike for a neighbor and his girlfriend and no matter how often I spoke to them or smiled at them they blanked me out and didn’t respond just put their head down and walked on by. I had chosen to ignore them and let them just get on with their ignorant ways.

Since reading these scriptures and now being aware that I am in disobedience and rebellion if I don’t change and begin to pray for the love of God to flow from my heart to theirs. I have to accept them just as they are without change. It is up to me and no one else to change and accept their ignorant and unsociable ways and begin to like them and eventually learn to love them. I have begun to pray for the love of God in my heart to reach out and touch these two neighbors.

Since I done this today I have discovered I had a new sense of joy coming into me and I was feeling so much happier and then I realized that I was trying my best to walk in obedience and

God was rewarding my effort with the joy he promised at the beginning of 1-John-1-4.then you to will be full of joy.

Forgiving people meant I had to wish the best for them and want the best for them and praying for them. Choosing to forgive was a requirement from God. In liking people I realized that this is not the requirements that were needed, but that I needed to pray for the love of God in me to flow out to them and bless them.

There is a difference between forgiving someone and praying for them, and disliking someone and “praying for the love of God in us” to reach out from us to them. I hope you can understand the difference between these two.

When praying for forgiveness for someone I pray outward for them. “Lord I ask you to bless them.”

When praying for those I dislike I pray inwardly causing change in me. Lord I pray you will give “me” your love for them.

Forgive = bless them Like = give me.

All these things wont change overnight it will take time and effort to bring about change but with the help of the Holy Spirit change is possible. You will be fighting a battle, because the battlefield is in the mind and Satan wants to claim a place in your mind and emotions. But overwhelming victory is ours through Christ Jesus.

Did you realize the extra benefits that are happening since you have become aware of what disliking someone means. You will realize that when others are talking bad about someone that you also don’t like, you will stand there with your mouth shut or try and defend them a little bit.

I have started doing this and it’s only been a few days since the lord revealed this dark area in my life I am consciously aware of what disliking means now. Light is beginning to shine in many areas that I didn’t realize I failed in.

2-peter1-9

Do you see what this verse is saying, “theses additions to faith!” This is a bonus, you get additions to your faith, and I don’t know about you but I could do with extra additions to my faith. By changing from disliking people you receive quite a few extra blessings and growth. Becoming strong spiritually and fruitful is my greatest desire, I want more than life itself to be pleasing, fruitful and spiritually strong, so that when Satan comes around, then I will have confidence before God that I can kick his butt and chase him away. Also so that I can approach my Father God boldly before his throne and ask for those things I need without any hesitancy. I don’t want to walk around spiritually blind not seeing where Satan is attacking me or my wife and family, and I don’t want to be shortsighted either, so that I’M too vain to believe what God’s word says about liking and disliking others. You can choseto ignorewhatIhavewritten in thislittlebook oryou can choseto do something about what I have shown you, the choice is entirely up to you the reader.

John-3-30-For me; I want that he should become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

The way to become less and less is to let his word change me into his image crystal clear and shining, not muggy or dark, obedience is what God wants, obedience to every word of God, not being selective, saying; “I don’t have to like someone as long as I love them;” You now know that you can’t love them until you first learn to enjoy them and then to like them and finally learning to grow in love for them, it’s a growing process. He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less, until we can say as Paul said; it is not I who live but Christ Jesus within me. Would Christ Jesus within you dislike someone?

Chapter six Setting the captive free

Luke-4-18-Jesus said; “I have come to set the captive free to give sight to the blind.”

Did you know that you can hold someone captive? Did you know that by you’re not forgiving someone, holds them and you also in bondage to each other? Did you know that by your dislike of someone you hold them in a place where they can’t get free?

How does my not liking someone holding them in a place where they can’t get free? What have I got to do with a dislikeable person being in a place where they can’t change?

You may not know this but we can hold people in bondage, we can hold someone in a place, a spiritual prison.

In thirty years of healing ministry, Rose my wife and I, have seen time after time, people set free when they released someone else through forgiveness, and we understood that there were spiritual cords that connect people together. For instance If someone had sex with another outside marriage then they became one with that person spiritually, and then if they had sex with someone else they carried the first person with them because Jesus said there is a spiritual

cord connecting us to others, and before long if that person continues to have sex with many partners then they carry those previous partners with them into the marriage bed by the spiritual cords that bind us to others.

1-corinthians 6-16 –if a man gives himself to a prostitute she becomes a part of him, and he becomes a part of her. But if you give yourself to the lord you are joined together as one person.

{And the connection is not only physical but spiritual}

Did you know you become one person with another, not just with a prostitute, when you had sex outside of marriage? And you are connected with the person you had sex with for the rest of your life unless that connection is broken through repentance and someone breaking the cords that bind. That’s why some marriages failed because the person had lots of cords connecting with others preventing them from being spiritually free.

And if you dislike someone for whom Jesus died you carry your dislike around with you, you connect to this person you so dislike and you both have a spiritual connection together. Not very nice is it to think you are carrying the one person you dislike the most around with you every where you go, tying you up and tying them up, so that God can’t get to work in their lives. You are preventing them from getting set free by your disliking them. We live in a spiritual world in a flesh body with a soul, {mind} and we think only flesh, we don’t give a lot of though to the spiritual side of us except to pray and talk with God. But there is a spiritual realm that God’s word talks about and it is more real than this fleshy world. We can’t see it but its there, you can’t see Satan but you know he’s there, you can’t see demons or spirits, but you as a Christian know they are there. You don’t know the spiritual things of life unless you get discernment, from God. There is more to the bible than you realize but it’s not the time or place for me to go into spiritual details regarding tying someone up spiritually and the spiritual harm it does, it is enough that you digest how your dislike of someone affects you, and them.

When you dislike someone, you bind them, you prevent them from changing, they feel somehow, peoples dislike of them and harden themselves subconsciously. Have you ever felt dislike for someone you didn’t even know someone you never even see before in your whole life, you couldn’t possibly know what they are like? Something about them just emanated dislike, you didn’t like them instantly. Did you realize that it was probably years of dislike being put on that person that they took on board that personality of dislike? Did you know you bind people by the things you think and say about them, you are the one preventing them from change?

Yes! You! And others can help shape people into the kind of people they become. No one is born dislikeable, people and circumstances change a likeable baby into a horrible little monster. No one chooses to be dislikable, everyone needs, and wants to be loved and accepted, it’s in human nature because God put into us to love and be loved. Don’t talk rubbish! How could I be responsible for someone not being likeable? How can I bind someone up? You may well ask these two questions. Now read the answer to your two questions in the following scripture.

Matthew 16-18 and I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give “you” the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever “you” bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever “you” loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

God gave his church power on this earth even if most of the church don’t use that power or even know they have it. In case you think this scripture was just for peter, read it again with me, Jesus said; “you are Peter the rock, and on this rock I will build my church.” See he built his church on Peter the rock, but then he said; the gates of hell shall not prevail against “it” not “you” as if it were just Peter he was talking about. If it was just for Peter then the church would have fallen two thousand years ago, because the keys would be lost when Peter died, but thanks and praise be to God Jesus built the church on Peter and then continued to build it over the last two thousand years 2008 to be exact.

Did you understand that he gave “you” the power to loose and bind, there is more to God’s kingdom and to the spiritual things on this earth and in the heavens that you or I know. But thankfully God reveals his kingdom to those who listen and obey. When you bind someone on earth by your negative words spoken against them, and negative words bind people, ask anyone with a bad self image what words did they hear growing up about themselves? You’re useless, no good; you will never amount to anything. I could go on and on about the negative words spoken to a child of God and of course those words bind them and prevent them from believing how much God loves them and accepts them. Would you like to hear someone say I don’t like her / him to someone else who in turn says those same to words to someone else and so they build up and up until you are so strangled that you feel useless and ugly and not worth anything? How do you know everyone likes you? Maybe just maybe people don’t like you and they don’t know you but you overhear someone say I don’t like her / him. How would it make you feel about yourself? It would destroy your self confidence, wouldn’t it? You would be shocked and cry for days thinking about it, people saying they don’t like you and there you think you God’s answer to everyone’s prayers.

Now do you understand how words like, ‘I don’t like him or her,’ can have an effect on someone and even if you don’t hear the words you can sense if from people, in other words your spirit is picking up what people feel about you and it makes you even worse and you become even more un-likeable. I say this to try and get you to understand no one is dislikeable, it’s just what has been put on them from childhood or something happened to make them they way they are.

Words bind and you have the power to bind someone on this earth for whom Jesus died. Those people are also bound in heaven; in other words God can’t get to work on them because he set the principle of binding and loosing upon the earth and backed it up by binding and loosing in heaven.

Words also loose people on this earth, you have the power now to loose what ever hold you created on to this person or persons you don’tlike, you areaChristian and Christians arecalled to love one another to help one another and to free one another, to reach out and bless one another.

If you have held someone in bondage by binding them with your words of dislike, confess that to God and say; “I forgive them for being dislikeable,” “Now lord forgive me for holding dislike in my heart, give me the grace to love this person with your love within me.

Say Jesus; I lose { “their name” } IN THE NAME OF Jesus, From the bondage of dislike that I had for them and I ask that you give “ME” your love in my heart for them, to enjoy them, to like them and to eventually love them. In Jesus name Amen;

If you have done what I have been inspired to write then realize that you have just grown in love and have added additions to your faith. You have set the captive free and also yourself free, because you let go of that person or persons that you have spiritually carried around with you for years, and have now a lighter load to carry and you are pleasing God because he loves all mankind alike. You never know God can begin to get to work on that dislikeable person because you freed him enough to begin the healing process in that person’s life, you could then be responsible for that person becoming a changed person and becoming a loveable person. All that it takes is for one domino to fall to bring down the whole lot. Learn to grow in love by loosing that person or persons free now.

Psalm 139-23- search me oh God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life . Amen

Ask God to search your heart, as in this scripture and reveal areas that he needs to bring into the light. If you dislike a lot of people then make a list and begin loosing them one by one, day by day until they are all loosed, then praying for the lord to “fill you” with his love for them. It doesn’t matter if you take one person at a time or take them all just pray that “you” will be filled full of love for them.

Go through that list sincerely and pray for God to change you and your attitude towards them.

Removing the darkness within you!

Now you can begin to deal with the darkness within you, you can now say to the spirit / spirits, that has held you in bondage to fear, lust, stealing, or what ever you have been habitually bound to, to leave you in Jesus name, and it / they, will have to leave because they will not have anything to cling on to and you can prevent them from ever coming back by keeping your house cleaned and then filled with Jesus Holy Spirit and with light. Make sure after you cast a spirit or spirits out of yourself that you ask the Lord to fill you full of light so those spirits cannot come back and find the house empty and come back in again, fill your empty house with God’s light and word.

When we release others we release ourselves in the spiritual world. And the darkness in our lives disappears.

Amen;

Lessons I am learning through this book;

{Personal note}-I’M learning how to get rid of dark areas in my life.

{Personal note}-I’M learning to like and love people and I’m growing stronger.

{Personal note} I have learned there are four steps in learning to love people.

{Personal note}- I am getting joy in my life as I do what the word says.

{Personal note}- I’M getting extra additions to my faith.

{Personal note}- I am learning about the spiritual side of me and of the spirit world also.

{Personal note}-I am learning that I can grow in both his love and in my own human love.

{Personal note}-I’m learning that I can put my feelings and emotions aside.

{Personal note I’m learning that I have to practice loving each other

{Personal note} when praying I have learned a new way to pray, to pray outward for others that need forgiveness, and to pray inward for change in me

Through this one act, stopping disliking people I have gained extra benefits and blessings from God; it’s worth it letting go of dislike. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!