ZECHARIAH’S & JOSHUA’S HARBOR

By Joshua and Zechariah

Bless Those Who Curse You 

We have decided to make a joint post because God has been working in both of our lives and focusing us on the importance of the spiritual truth behind blessing our enemies rather than harboring bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness.  We hope that those of you who have been in similar situuations as us will find value in this spiritual principle of blessing the ones who have caused you pain.

As we continue to work through the hurt and anger our abusers have caused, we have come to a place where we no longer simply view our abusers as our abusers, but rather God has shown us that they are victims as well. Victims in a sense that they have believed the lie that power is obtained through various forms of control such as in the physical, sexual or emotional abuse of others. In their mindset, gaining control over another person means that they themselves are free from control– and staying in control will relieve them of their feelings of powerlessness.  But this lie is actually causing and fueling their misery, holding them in slavery.

Slavery

^Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34 NKJV)

Slavery leading to death

Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. (Romans 6:16 NLT)

As hard as it may be to fathom, Jesus loves our abusers just as much as He loves us.  Jesus desires to set them free from their slavery to sin and the bondage Satan has them in.  Jesus has shown us that we should not let our emotions control our mindset, rather we need to take a more mature perspective by praying for our abusers and their deliverance from the web of lies that they live under and the misery that drives them to hurt others.

To imagine the depraved state of mind someone must be in to hurt innocent and helpless children in an effort to gain “power” gives us a better understanding of our abusers and helps us pray for them more effectively.

Bless those who curse you

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44, 45)

If this message has resonated with you, and you feel that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to pray for your “enemies” please join both of us in the following prayer:

Jesus,

We pray for the people that have hurt us so deeply. We ask that you would break through the lies that they believe about who You are and show them that even in the midst of their chaos, You love and care for them, and desire for them to experience the freedom and peace that they have never known. We know that they too have been abused and that as wrong as it is, they are only doing to others what has been done to them. Show them that they do not have to continue to find release by hurting others, as they have been hurt. We pray that you would break through the darkness and despair that they live in and touch them with your love in a way that they can understand. We ask that in your sovereignty, Jesus,  you would open their eyes to Satan’s true intentions with their lives, and show them yours. In Jesus name, amen.

Zechariah and Joshua Manning

Joshua’s Harbor

By Joshua

Strength from God

One passage of scripture that God has continually brought to my attention through numerous people, and continues to reveal to me, is 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10:

“And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake, For when I am weak, then I am strong”.

I can relate to this passage Paul wrote because in my life’s experiences, when I have encountered very troubling times, which have physically and emotionally drained me, I found myself calling upon Jesus for strength. At which point I felt the Holy Spirit provide me with the necessary strength to press forward and not give up.

Looking back over the last two years when my brother and I were in the process of attaining restraining orders against our former family members who abused us, my brother and I observed our abusers, who lived an hour and a half away, in our neighborhood of residence on numerous occasions.  Their goal was to intimidate and use their appearance to threaten us to keep us from attending the trial and testifying in open court about the violence and abuse we had currently lived under.  However, both my brother and I, pushed through all of the intimidation and numerous threats by our abusers and testified under oath about the abuse we had sustained growing up, as our abusers sat and listened.

Receiving the 10 month restraining order by the judge was a victory that allowed me to know that I could be my own individual and no longer live as a controlled slave again.  During this time of my life, my prayer was “Jesus, I am giving this situation over to you, I ask that your will would be done in this situation and I ask that you would provide me with the necessary strength to press forward and not give up.”

Jesus used this long and difficult time to teach me patience and to trust in Him, which ultimately resulted in the tremendous growth of my faith in Him. For anyone who is currently facing any sort of difficult and/or nearly impossible circumstance, never give up and continue to place your trust in Jesus Christ and allow Him to work in your situation.