Hi everyone, in my life I have been abused for my Christian faith. Due to my experiences I have tried to think of the Bible and scripture for tools how we can try and cope with those who try and abuse, provoke or persecute us about our faith.
For me those who would do this would tell me I had not kept a Commandment to try and distress me and provoke my autism and sensory nature and my conscience. God has came through for me with this.
I think we need to be armed to deal with this people. How does the Bible say we can deal with this. I have found some scripture and written my thoughts below how can help each other with this.
Has any of you experienced something like this and how did you cope?
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Jezebel was a corrupt woman who was a Queen and daughter of Ethbaal who didn’t worship God. Jezebel liked to reign misery, immorality and injustice on prophets of God in particular in the Old Testament. Jezebel called for a termination of the life of the Prophets of God (1 Kings 18:4, 13). At one time this called for drastic action to be taken by Obadiah to hide 100 prophets from Jezebel in a cave when she was on a rampage for them (1Kings: 4). The particular case doesn’t involve a prophet but it shows how scheming Jezebel was. There a man called Naboth who was a citizen of Jezreel and believer in God from the tribe of Issachar, and he owned a vineyard which was desired by Jezebel’s husband who was King Ahab.
Naboth wouldn’t relinquish his vineyard to the King. The King then called on his wife to manipulate and seize the vineyard from Naboth. To force Naboth to relinquish his vineyard Jezebel had him tried for crimes of blasphemy against God. Naboth was incorrectly found guilty of this crime due to false witnesses and this led to him being stoned to death. To be charged with blasphemy most likely played on Naboth's mind as it would likely cause any ordinary God fearing human being. God though sought justice for Naboth through Prophet Elijah which was fulfilled and King Jehu brought the end to her gross crimes in Kings (2 Kings 9 :30-37). Today the Jezebel figure is symbolic for men and women who lead servants of God into immorality and Jesus will end her assault when he returns to earth for judgement.
Blessed Padua (Lucrezia Bellini) who suffered from mental health challenges went through a terrible time of incorrectly being blamed for poisoning a nun and it was found to be incorrect and she suffered mind games and provocation which almost led her to a fatality where she was found walking on a high beam. God was on her side and she came through and was found not responsible and innocent and the nun recovered as well.
In life as Christians we may encounter people who to play on our conscience to provoke us with a hot spear rod for their own scheming manipulative ways.
You may also be a very kind person who someone wants to take advantage of as well, especially as in our faith we are asked to support others which is good, but schemers should not be tolerated. There are vulnerable groups in this world, which may be more likely to be targetted. Someone may also ask you to break the law as a minister of faith by asking you to sign documents for them. They may be insulted that you cannot do this as it is against the law and they may tell you that you are a not a Christian for not doing so. You may feel guilty for them saying this and this may affect your conscience. Do not let it and remember you are to offer light to the world.
What can we do about it as Christians. If you are going through this or who have been through this you are not alone, evil will have no dominion over you.
You can report it to the police if it is a crime and seek support from loved ones and friends and the church. Personal resilience courses also may help and look after your health as this stress could cause you to become unwell if you do not look after yourself. You may want to check in with your GP also if you find this very difficult. Remind yourselves of the things in your life that helped frame your life and that you enjoyed doing and remind yourself of your values to help get you through this. You can seek spiritual counselling also by a spiritual companion which is free or low cost usually.
Unlocking scripture to find the answers
We must also remain steadfast to God and trust in God and he will see you through as it his promise that he does not abandon his children in difficult and wicked times in Psalm 37. God is also against violence as we see in Psalm 12 and his spirit stands for those who are afflicted. Remember Jesus didn't give us the spirit of fear and confusion (2 Timothy 1 :7) and as Christians our Holy spirit desires us to speak in truth, so do not partake in these lies that are said to you and remember Christ alone has paid the ransom for our lives and your life is owned by Christ alone who judges us alone which of course does not involve the manipulators of your mind false judgement about you- (James 4:11)." Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law."
Remember that Jesus said in the Beatitudes (in Matthew 3) that Blessed are those who are persecuted and reviled for his sake, for their reward is the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus knows this will happen for some of his followers and that some of us may end up in jail for defending the faith, (Revelations 2:10), but he still asks us to seek to be liberated from this as well and he cares for his followers as well. If you are experiencing difficulty a minister told me that we can remind ourselves of this and say that 'Jesus is Lord' to ourselves. Remember to, that Jesus equipped us with the Holy Spirit to persevere to end of our lives and they are equipped to cope. You can read Psalm 24 to ignite your spiritual gifts. Genuinely those who cannot be free on earth, will be rewarded with God. God knows our hearts and thoughts and the pain and disruption they have caused you. God is Unchangeable, Omnipotent (powerful) and present and values justice. Focus on the love of God of as well.
We need to remain focused on Christ-everything else they do to you is noise and immaterial.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
In some cases the serenity prayer may be helpful as well to accept where you are temporary and know that earth is not your eternal abode in Christ.
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"
Try to ignore those who are counterproductive and try not to give a platform to evil doers.
"The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13).
This kind of manipulation does line up with what scripture calls the “schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). People can be tools in that, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not, but the good news is that in Christ you’re not powerless against it.
Focus on the truth-
One thing that helps is remembering what Jesus said in John 8:32: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Lies and mind games only gain power when we give them weight. The enemy loves to accuse (Revelation 12:10), but our conscience is not ruled by other people its ruled by Gods Word. If you know you’ve done nothing wrong, you can stand firm in that truth and not let false accusations bind you.
Try setting firm boundaries and refusing to engage when these games start, sometimes silence is the best response (Proverbs 26:4). And spiritually, keep leaning on prayer, scripture, and fellowship with believers who can remind you of the truth when you feel overwhelmed.
Remember how Jesus was silent to the Sanhedrin's who charged him with faulty charges which led to his crucifixion.
Fear makes it worse. But 2 Timothy 1:7 says God has given us “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” That’s yours in Christ, and no one can take it away.
For me those who would do this would tell me I had not kept a Commandment to try and distress me and provoke my autism and sensory nature and my conscience. God has came through for me with this.
I think we need to be armed to deal with this people. How does the Bible say we can deal with this. I have found some scripture and written my thoughts below how can help each other with this.
Has any of you experienced something like this and how did you cope?
...............................
Jezebel was a corrupt woman who was a Queen and daughter of Ethbaal who didn’t worship God. Jezebel liked to reign misery, immorality and injustice on prophets of God in particular in the Old Testament. Jezebel called for a termination of the life of the Prophets of God (1 Kings 18:4, 13). At one time this called for drastic action to be taken by Obadiah to hide 100 prophets from Jezebel in a cave when she was on a rampage for them (1Kings: 4). The particular case doesn’t involve a prophet but it shows how scheming Jezebel was. There a man called Naboth who was a citizen of Jezreel and believer in God from the tribe of Issachar, and he owned a vineyard which was desired by Jezebel’s husband who was King Ahab.
Naboth wouldn’t relinquish his vineyard to the King. The King then called on his wife to manipulate and seize the vineyard from Naboth. To force Naboth to relinquish his vineyard Jezebel had him tried for crimes of blasphemy against God. Naboth was incorrectly found guilty of this crime due to false witnesses and this led to him being stoned to death. To be charged with blasphemy most likely played on Naboth's mind as it would likely cause any ordinary God fearing human being. God though sought justice for Naboth through Prophet Elijah which was fulfilled and King Jehu brought the end to her gross crimes in Kings (2 Kings 9 :30-37). Today the Jezebel figure is symbolic for men and women who lead servants of God into immorality and Jesus will end her assault when he returns to earth for judgement.
Blessed Padua (Lucrezia Bellini) who suffered from mental health challenges went through a terrible time of incorrectly being blamed for poisoning a nun and it was found to be incorrect and she suffered mind games and provocation which almost led her to a fatality where she was found walking on a high beam. God was on her side and she came through and was found not responsible and innocent and the nun recovered as well.
In life as Christians we may encounter people who to play on our conscience to provoke us with a hot spear rod for their own scheming manipulative ways.
You may also be a very kind person who someone wants to take advantage of as well, especially as in our faith we are asked to support others which is good, but schemers should not be tolerated. There are vulnerable groups in this world, which may be more likely to be targetted. Someone may also ask you to break the law as a minister of faith by asking you to sign documents for them. They may be insulted that you cannot do this as it is against the law and they may tell you that you are a not a Christian for not doing so. You may feel guilty for them saying this and this may affect your conscience. Do not let it and remember you are to offer light to the world.
What can we do about it as Christians. If you are going through this or who have been through this you are not alone, evil will have no dominion over you.
You can report it to the police if it is a crime and seek support from loved ones and friends and the church. Personal resilience courses also may help and look after your health as this stress could cause you to become unwell if you do not look after yourself. You may want to check in with your GP also if you find this very difficult. Remind yourselves of the things in your life that helped frame your life and that you enjoyed doing and remind yourself of your values to help get you through this. You can seek spiritual counselling also by a spiritual companion which is free or low cost usually.
Unlocking scripture to find the answers
We must also remain steadfast to God and trust in God and he will see you through as it his promise that he does not abandon his children in difficult and wicked times in Psalm 37. God is also against violence as we see in Psalm 12 and his spirit stands for those who are afflicted. Remember Jesus didn't give us the spirit of fear and confusion (2 Timothy 1 :7) and as Christians our Holy spirit desires us to speak in truth, so do not partake in these lies that are said to you and remember Christ alone has paid the ransom for our lives and your life is owned by Christ alone who judges us alone which of course does not involve the manipulators of your mind false judgement about you- (James 4:11)." Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law."
Remember that Jesus said in the Beatitudes (in Matthew 3) that Blessed are those who are persecuted and reviled for his sake, for their reward is the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus knows this will happen for some of his followers and that some of us may end up in jail for defending the faith, (Revelations 2:10), but he still asks us to seek to be liberated from this as well and he cares for his followers as well. If you are experiencing difficulty a minister told me that we can remind ourselves of this and say that 'Jesus is Lord' to ourselves. Remember to, that Jesus equipped us with the Holy Spirit to persevere to end of our lives and they are equipped to cope. You can read Psalm 24 to ignite your spiritual gifts. Genuinely those who cannot be free on earth, will be rewarded with God. God knows our hearts and thoughts and the pain and disruption they have caused you. God is Unchangeable, Omnipotent (powerful) and present and values justice. Focus on the love of God of as well.
We need to remain focused on Christ-everything else they do to you is noise and immaterial.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
In some cases the serenity prayer may be helpful as well to accept where you are temporary and know that earth is not your eternal abode in Christ.
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"
Try to ignore those who are counterproductive and try not to give a platform to evil doers.
"The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13).
This kind of manipulation does line up with what scripture calls the “schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). People can be tools in that, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not, but the good news is that in Christ you’re not powerless against it.
Focus on the truth-
One thing that helps is remembering what Jesus said in John 8:32: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Lies and mind games only gain power when we give them weight. The enemy loves to accuse (Revelation 12:10), but our conscience is not ruled by other people its ruled by Gods Word. If you know you’ve done nothing wrong, you can stand firm in that truth and not let false accusations bind you.
Try setting firm boundaries and refusing to engage when these games start, sometimes silence is the best response (Proverbs 26:4). And spiritually, keep leaning on prayer, scripture, and fellowship with believers who can remind you of the truth when you feel overwhelmed.
Remember how Jesus was silent to the Sanhedrin's who charged him with faulty charges which led to his crucifixion.
Fear makes it worse. But 2 Timothy 1:7 says God has given us “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” That’s yours in Christ, and no one can take it away.
