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Eight Signs of a Captive Spirit and How to Heal
The idea of a captive spirit is not regularly discussed outside of those who participate in inner healing ministries and yet many suffer from this condition. A captive spirit occurs when early childhood trauma interrupts the regular bonding and emotional maturational process of childhood. The soul rises up to protect the wounded spirit and strongholds, or practiced, habitual ways of thinking take over. To have a captive spirit is a painful experience, as the name suggests. And given how difficult life can be for the very young born into dysfunctional situations, possessing a captive spirit involves turning away from life. Often spiritual rebellion (a deep rejection of the circumstances…
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The Painful Truth about Spiritual Rebellion
Spiritual rebellion is not a popular topic for the sermon of the week. I think that is because even pastors can be somewhat unclear as to what it really is. The word, rebellion, summons up pouty teenagers staying out past curfew or military coups somewhere overseas. Most people I ask believe that spiritual rebellion is disobeying God. I suppose it is in a very vague sense, though occasionally I do disobey God, and I am no longer in spiritual rebellion. Spiritual rebellion is an incredibly painful rejection of the life that God has given you. Do you wish you had been born to another family? Do you wish that you…
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How to Overcome Learned Helplessness
The typical picture given of learned helplessness is of a hawk staying in its cage, though the door is open and it is free to soar once again. The problem with this image is that, while certainly poignant, it minimizes the actual damage that precedes the state of learned helplessness. Abuse is almost always the precursor to a person deciding that they cannot escape their situations. A feeling of powerlessness is a direct result of suffering mistreatment and contributes greatly to depression. The condition can progress to the point where a person will give up trying to escape the painful situation and instead, simply resign themselves to their apparently inevitable…
Healing Through Art & Words
