Spirit Oppression

Truly spiritual oppression occurs when we are looking towards self and away from God.  We may believe we are putting God first, but our mouths can speak great things without any heart love involved.

Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me…

Eze 33:31  … for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 

Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 

With our spirit oppressed we can still put on all the trappings of our faith without any real substance. To unleash our spirit from oppression we have to use our will, our power of choice to recognize where we are truly looking- at ourselves and not at God.

How can we expect God to live in us when we have no room in our lives for Him because we only see ourselves and all involved with ourselves and not God.

You think you don't look at yourself because you don't like yourself? Wrong. Negative attention is still attention and just as harmful as good attention when we are looking inward constantly.

We have needs, we have desires and we refuse to give up those needs and desires because we justify them as being normal and acceptable and irrefutably ours to possess. We claim our so called right, our entitlement to our attention, after all we state outright we were born this way.

We wake up in the morning and instantly assess our state of being. The process is so fast and automatic to us we barely notice it is taking place. Do we feel any pain? Do we feel rested enough? Are all systems go- as in nothing remarkably out of ordinary taking place? The answer to these barely noticed questions will guide the beginning of our waking hours. Pain? Yes, pain- take steps to relieve that pain, indulge in self-pity for the pain (it is totally acceptable for all who are in pain isn't it?).  No pain? Take a deep breath, sigh with a bit of relief this is a good thing. Tired still after waking? Indulge in self-pity, after all that bone-tiredness isn't going to be easy to shake.  Truly we tend to be focused on ourselves as we wake up and rise out of bed to be about our day. We may throw a prayer in the morning mix, but even that prayer may have a tendency towards requesting help for ourselves and all our irritations- deemed completely legitimate. You yell at me that it's normal to be self-focused, we are who we are and can only deal with ourselves and no other.

Justifying our self-centeredness and calling it normal and acceptable is a horrific satanic deception.

Our lives could be truly classified as being 'living hells' and still we are to look Godward, not self-ward. The 'living hell' we are experiencing is not an invitation for self-indulgence, but yet another indication for us to live for the treasure we are laying up in heaven and not for the here and now.

Can we indulge self when indulging God? Have you ever tried to give two people all your attention at once? Quickly you'll realize it's impossible the moment one reacts in the slightest way. You can't give two ALL your attention, you can only give them both some of your attention. The Word of God tells us that we can't serve two masters--

Mat_6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

You say that's not true, that you can love two masters without despising either of them? Again, as soon as one master differs from the other and asks a more difficult task you will make a comparison and then will begin the seed of dissent however tiny inside you.

We can't serve ourselves and God.  You saying serving God is serving yourself and that is true, but serving yourself is not serving God. This is possible because God alone is good, God alone has the power, God made possible so much that we could never come close to making possible.

Our spirits will be oppress as long as we indulge in self-focus. May God open our hearts and minds to understand our state of being every single day, and may we commit ourselves to God's will not our own, looking always to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith! Rejoice! Rejoice in Christ, all else is temporary to eternity. Christ gives us all we need to live for Him.

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'A Joyful Spirit

“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1.47).

Towards himself a Christian should have a broken spirit (Ps. 51.17), but towards God it should be one of rejoicing always in Him. He rejoices not for its own sake nor because of any joyful experience, work, blessing or circumstance, but exclusively because God is his center.

Indeed, no saint can genuinely rejoice out of any cause other than God Himself.

If our spirit is oppressed by worry, weight and sorrow it will commence to be irresponsible, next sink down, then lose its proper place, and finally become powerless to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

When pressed down by a heavy load the spirit loses its lightness, freedom and brightness. It quickly topples from its ascendant position. And should the time of sorrow be prolonged, damage to spiritual life is incalculable. Nothing can save the situation except to rejoice in the Lord—rejoice in what God is and how He is our Savior. The note of hallelujah must never be in short supply in the spirit of the believer.'  The Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee