Statesman63
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 | | Subject: A Desperate Cure for Panic Attacks the Final Take Sat Nov 11, 2017 9:17 pm | |
| The Final Take
I’m going to go out on a limb and call this “The Final Take”. I don’t think there will be a need for another after this one. Please check back periodically, however, for I might edit this final take by adding to it, but this should be it. Your healing is here.
We are going to completely clear up your panic attacks, but it is going to take some effort on your part. To be honest, it might be somewhat difficult. The reason it might be hard is because your mind has become accustomed to thinking the way it does and we have to re-tweak it to think differently. There are 2 battles, or 2 strategies we must take. We have to expose all lies and secondly we have to affirm the Truth. The technique I am going to share with you is completely biblical. We are going to apply what the Word of God says.
Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” This includes dark, personal thoughts. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” If you are suffering from panic attacks, then your mind has been conditioned to tell you lies and arguments that are not true, and these lies set themselves up against the Truth of God. Paul says that we must identify these thoughts and go on the offensive and take these thoughts captive. But we aren’t supposed to stop there with just putting these thoughts in chains; we are to continue on, enslaving them, making them obedient to Jesus Christ. It is important that we expose these lies—these panic thoughts. We must expose them early when they are first trying to accumulate. What happens is that if these thoughts go unexposed, then we might end up fellowshipping with these lies unawaringly. We might go much of the day without realizing that we are accumulating fear because we failed to expose the small incorrect thoughts that we have throughout the day, and these small incorrect thoughts end up accumulating and can eventually sprout into a sudden panic attack that you didn’t see coming. Never fellowship with negative, false thoughts: lies. Lies can be subtle. You might have a good, “passable” day, but still not really have been in peace because you struggled throughout to maintain yourself. But this is not true peace. This is only an apparent peace that looks like peace on the outside, meanwhile, if you were to truthfully survey the inside, you would have to concede that you did not have peace. If you struggled at all, it is because of some lie that floated in your mind that you might not have even been aware of at the time; and this must be identified by you.
You must act as if the lies that you have identified as lies are really lies; and, you must act as if the Truth is the truth. In case, you might have quickly read over that, I’ll repeat it: You must act as if the lies that you have identified as lies are really lies; and, you must act as if the Truth is the truth. You must act out Truth. Truth must become an action accomplished through faith. This is the part that takes effort and practice, and can be difficult at first. You and I (because I’ve suffered with it too) have been conditioned to believe that the lies are true and to believe that the Truth is not true. This affects how we feel. Often you won’t feel that the Truth is true, and you won’t feel that the lie is a lie. But we must act as if the lie is a lie and that the Truth is truth. The Truth is: at no point do you have to submit to a lie. As long as you act out the Truth then never, ever bash yourself even if you did not experience what you hoped for. If you apparently failed, in your opinion, congratulate yourself when you acted as if the lies are lies and Truth is truth because this eventually will lead to your healing and it is in keeping with the Word of God. Never, ever bash yourself, especially for successfully doing this technique. Win or lose, just do it and pat yourself on the back for doing it. Never stop doing it. It must become your renewed way of thinking. To get it to become your new pattern of thinking, it takes many, many repetitions and eventual victories. The victories will wipe away your negative thinking. The victories will be your healing.
Remember that true peace, according to the bible, is beyond understanding. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This means that the end result of peace is effortless. Obtaining peace should not require any effort at all. But to get to that point, we must clean up our incorrect way of thinking and think the correct way. As I mentioned, victories will wipe away our bad memories. Disappointments, embarrassments, and apparent failures often become engraved in the mind, creating a loop, similar to a scratched record that replays negative thoughts over and over in your mind. This loop must be broken. A repetition of victories will break this repeating loop that has kept you in depression and in a fearful state of mind.
If you don’t identify the illicit thoughts, how can you take them captive? This means that you must analyze your thoughts and scrutinize them objectively in the Truth of God. Do your thoughts agree with the Word of God? This of course, assumes that you know God’s Word well. It is easy to harbor illicit thoughts that have hijacked your mind without you being aware. One great clue is your feelings. Your feelings are a gauge as to whether or not you are harboring illicit thoughts in your mind. If you feel anxious, then that is a big hint that there is some illicit thought floating around in your mind. The moment you feel anxious, seek to expose the lie that created the feeling. Take it captive by telling it: “You do not belong in my mind. You are not the Truth. You have no right to dictate my feelings or actions. Jesus is the Truth. You are a lie. Therefore, you have no power at all.” Exposed lies lose their power over you. Jesus quoted to His illicit thoughts (that is, to Satan) the Word of God when Satan tempted Him to obey him. Jesus later said, “Get behind me, Satan.” You and I should not quote that directly, but rather, should say, “Get behind Jesus, Satan.” Jesus is the one Satan fears, not you or I.
It says in Isaiah 40:4, “Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain will be made low; and the crooked will be made straight, and the rough places plain.” That is a rich passage with a lot of meaning, but I’ll apply it here to our panic attacks. One day in the future, God will bring down the pride of the prideful, that is, make the mountains low. At the same time He does that, He will fill every valley: that is, those who debase themselves below the point where God sees them, He will esteem them, lift them up so that they will be on level ground with everyone else. So God wants us to live this life on level ground with our brothers and sisters. He doesn’t want you to view yourself as more important than someone else; nor does He want you to debase yourself, subserviently to others and esteem them above yourself. So we must fill our valleys and demolish our mountains. Do not bash yourself ever. Self-bashing is an illicit thought. Do not esteem another above yourself. Esteem yourself up to the level of everyone else. No one is better or more important than you. The world incorrectly judges and determines particular people to be important, often based on prestige, affluence, income, knowledge, position, etc. Is LeBron James more important than you? Of course not! The more important question is: Do you feel that LeBron is more important than you? If the answer to that is yes, then you need to esteem yourself, and this will be legitimate ego raising because you have to get out of the valley and reach level ground with LeBron and with whoever else you debase yourself below.
Once you have taken captive every illicit thought and made it obedient to Jesus Christ, don’t stop there. You must also affirm the Truth. You must agree with the Truth. Truth must be true to you, not just an ephemeral, distant concept that you are trying to believe. This also requires repetition. And it also requires that you act in Truth: that is, you must live out, act, and do things as if the Truth is the Truth. So let’s affirm the Truth now. Let’s start by affirming the veracity, or the truthfulness of Truth itself. Psalm 119:160 says, “All [God’s] words are true.” Hebrews 6:18 says that it is impossible for God to lie. 1 John 2:21 says that no lie comes from the Truth. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all Scripture is God breathed. God’s Truth trumps how you feel. Your feelings can lie, but God’s Word remains true. Our feelings don’t always agree with God’s Word. Our feelings need to be educated to Truth and retrained through a repetition of victories of acting out the Truth through faith. Since it is impossible for God to lie we ought to put our full faith and trust in His Word. His Word will not return void. We need to go with an expectation of seeing His Word come to fruition since He cannot lie. Satan wants to cast doubt in God’s Word. It is our job to affirm its veracity. We must always start with the Truth; never start with a lie and then strive for the Truth. Start with the Truth and renounce the lies.
Now let’s affirm the Truth in you. You have absolute peace, freedom and self-control. You have it by legal right of being a Christian. It comes in the package. You have it by legal right from the payment of Jesus on the Cross and through His resurrection from the dead. In Christ, fear has no legal control over you. You are not controlled by fear, but by the Spirit. You have freedom. Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” You have absolute peace. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” You have sufficient power. You must believe in the power of God. Philippians 4:23 says that you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Luke 1:37 says, “For nothing is impossible with God.” “If you can?,” Jesus says in Mark 9:23, “Everything is possible to him who believes.” Jesus says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” You have power over sin. Galatians 5:16 says, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” And Romans 6:7 says, “because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” You are a unique individual and special with a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You have God’s direct help. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” You are royalty. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…” God cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” I could continue this, but I instead encourage the Reader to search the Scriptures to find the Truth of who you are: that is, who God sees you as, not as how you currently see you as. You have a new identity in Christ Jesus; and the bible is the only blueprint that lays out who you really are in Christ Jesus. Realize who the Truth (God) says you are.
Truth is power. It is safe. There is no need to hide or fear when in Truth. Your safety and freedom from panic attacks reside in Truth. The thought of stepping out into Truth might seem scary, but the act of stepping out into Truth is peaceful and healing. Truth is always in peace. Peace is always tethered to Truth. They never separate from one another. In Truth resides a reliable source of self-control. Recall the Fruits of the Spirit are the following: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All of these fall under the branch of Truth. The Fruits of the Spirit are what the Holy Spirit produces in the Christian. When we submit to Jesus, these get produced automatically by Him. When we plant a seed in the ground, we have no control over the fruit that grows. God transforms that seed into fruit. The Fruits of the Spirit are natural in Truth. When we act out the Truth, these things flow naturally. Just as we don’t create our own peace, we don’t create our own self-control. Self-control is a natural thing that works subconsciously when it operates in Truth. This is called operating in grace. Grace is not trusting in one’s own strength, and instead, relying on the strength of Jesus. Jesus said that when you are weak, that is, when you are no longer trusting in your own strength, then you are strong. The Holy Spirit takes over with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control when we operate in Truth. Don’t cancel out these fruit with anti-fruit because cancelling one will affect the others. Don’t harbor hatred instead of love and expect peace. We must live by the Spirit, by letting these fruit be produced and operated through us to enjoy all of the Fruits of the Spirit. People who suffer with panic attacks feel that they fall short of peace, self-control, and joy, which are 3 of the Fruits of the Spirit. Joy is dependent on our feelings and we cannot always control our feelings (apparently). To assure that you receive these 3, you must be sure that you are operating in the ones that you can control, such as love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness. The Holy Spirit will freely produce the other three.
Never allow a lie to limit or stop you from doing anything. Never accept any excuses from lies to keep you from doing something that you would otherwise do if you had absolute peace. Excuses to not try something come from lies, which ultimately, comes from Satan, who is the original source of all lies. Satan does not want you to realize your healing, peace, confidence, and power. He whispers lies into your mind that you can’t do something or go particular places, whereas God has declared that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and has given you peace and freedom to set your foot in all places. You can either claim Satan’s lies as your own thoughts, or you can reject them as his illegitimate thoughts that set themselves against the Word of God. We are supposed to take Satan’s thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus. We are in a spiritual war. Your weapon against lies is the Truth—God’s Word. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God; and, the sword of Satan are his lies. In fact, that’s Satan’s only real weapon he has against a Christian. He fights us with lies and we are to fight back with Truth by acting out Truth through faith. Faith is simply acting as if God is telling the Truth. This faith is your shield that extinguishes the arrows of the evil one. Acting as if God is telling the Truth extinguishes the arrows, or attacks of Satan. This is so because Satan’s only attacks with lies. Lies are his arrows. Don’t take Satan too lightly, however, because his arrows are fiery; they can hurt; but, they get extinguished when Truth is acted out in faith.
Much of the buildup of anxiety throughout the day originates from self-bashing from apparent failures, disgraces, and embarrassments. Never be concerned about another’s opinion of you. Isaiah 51:7 says, “Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.” Anyone who disrespects you is not on your level of maturity and you should not waste your time or energy on what they think about you. Never meditate on lies, whether they come from others or from yourself. When you meditate on a lie, you are subconsciously claiming that as your identity. Typically, I know from experience, that after a bad day, the mind naturally meditates on the failures and embarrassments that occurred that day, which is not healthy, and only serves to increase depression and more anxious tension that carries over into the next day. It is imperative to not muse over your embarrassments, failures, or disappointments. Stop the buildup immediately once you realize there is a lie floating in your mind. Do not recollect embarrassing moments. That is past tense. There is no recovering that moment. What you do have is the next moment where you can exercise victories.
Your peace and freedom are inevitable. It doesn’t matter what you are going through, or how bad you perceive your situation to be, or how many years you’ve suffered with panic attacks, eventually, you will have absolute peace. It is a promise from God, just waiting for you to learn how to act out Truth through faith. Soon, victories will be all you know and you will again remember the peace of your youth. Truth and peace will be fully realized. In the meantime, you must clean up the road of all of the debris that has gotten in the way of your full access to peace. You must start to see yourself in a new light. Stop meditating on the old you. And step out in faith. Don’t step out with negativity and cancel your peace. Peace is the true default. Both peace and Truth are defaults. How this works is the negativity zaps away your peace that you started with. You really don’t start with fear and have to find peace. It just feels that way. You actually start with peace and lose it to fear. Therefore, always be confident with what you start off with. Soon, you will start with peace and maintain it for the full day. You must stop looking for evidence of your old self and walk in the newness of your new identity in Christ. It is time to make Truth your reality. It is time to enjoy the peace promised by God.
The moment, not the next, and not the past, is where your peace is. Peace lives in the moment and is not concerned about the next moment. It does not dwell on the past. In most of our cases, our past is mostly negative because we had been conditioned to think negatively. And our negative thinking tends to make us expect that the next moment and experience will be negative as well. Recall that God is always in the moment. His name is I AM, not I Was or I Will Be. The next moment is not promised to us and we can’t do anything to change the past. All we can do is to enjoy the moment we are in and make the best of the opportunities before us.
The bible says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!” Again, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Be joyful always.”—and in verse 18, he says, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Rejoicing always will help keep your mind off of your negativity. To rejoice always means to rejoice even after apparent failures or embarrassments. We are to rejoice in both good times and bad because “always” encompasses, well, always. We are not rejoicing that we experienced a failure or that we lost control and got embarrassed; rather, we are to rejoice that God is still God even when we fail. We are to rejoice that His Truth still stands, which means that there is always hope regardless of what we experience. If we bash ourselves after apparent stumblings and failures, then that negativity will etch itself into our minds and we will become worse off; however, if we rejoice always, even after we apparently stumble, then negativity will not be able to clench its grip on us, and the cheerful heart will be good medicine to heal us from a cycle of negative thinking.
If you can just remember 3 statements from everything that I wrote, these are the most important to remember: 1. You must act out the Truth through faith. 2. The Truth is: at no point do you have to submit to a lie. 3. Realize who the Truth (God) says you are. 4. This one is not in what I wrote, but I have to add it to what you need to remember: The Truth is: No one can take your peace away from you--no matter what you do. Give it to no one. We often lose peace simply because we gave it away, usually to an individual or to a place or situation.
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