Discouragement is not of God. God does not discourage. The Lord is constantly trying to encourage us and build up our faith. He wants us to be strong soldiers, armed with His Word, moving forward, not wimpy, half-hearted, broken down and bummed out weaklings.
(Ephesians 6:10 BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT.)
When we hear accusations, discouraging thoughts, critical messages, these are NOT the voice of God! This is the voice of Satan or Satan's minions. These voices must be resisted and REBUKED in the name of Jesus Christ!
So, when we hear these voices, even if we think they may even be our own thoughts, we need to say, "I rebuke you, Satan, in Jesus's name! Get behind me! Leave NOW!"
I find myself saying this several times a day. Even after years of battling with the enemy, I still continue to hear Satan's voice loud and clear at times and sometimes several times a day. There were months when his voice was constant and overpowering, but I learned how to tune him out, take authority over him and make him obey!
It's not always easy to put a stop to those condemning words and discouraging thoughts. Sometimes the barrage of negative thoughts can even bring on depression that may last for days! Ask me how I know! This is a very real battle going on in the battle field of our minds, folks. The Devil wants to discourage us (literally take away our courage) belittle us, wear us down, bring us down, pull us down all the way to his level. If he can accomplish that, he's happy. (Not that the Devil knows how to be happy in the true sense of the word.) But, if he can get us depressed, he has accomplished destroying our ability to be in touch with Jesus. He wants to cut off our connection with the Lord. That's his goal.
Our goal should be the opposite: to keep the connection strong. We need to encourage ourselves in the Lord like King David did. Read the Psalms! That's a boost. Do whatever needs to be done to encourage yourself in the Lord! Sing! Praise the Lord! Be positive! Satan hates that positive energy! He FLEES at the sound of praise to God. He cannot stand in the presence of God and when we praise the Lord, the Spirit of God comes "down" to listen! So, the Devil must go. He hides his face, shuts his mouth and leaves.
So, whatever you do, DON'T GET DISCOURAGED! Don't allow the Devil or Satan or his little demons to discourage you. Don't listen to his lies! (Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.) Don't believe him! He's a liar! And he'll try to make you think it's the voice of God that you're hearing, but God does not discourage, or accuse, or criticize us! NEVER.
The voice of our Lord is uplifting, happy, funny, encouraging, thrilling, loving, gentle, kind and even amusing. God has a great sense of humor and loves to makes us laugh. It's true!
THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!
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