Violence is like a giant bicycle wheel going round and round and round. We cannot tell its beginning and God only knows it’s ending. How might we stop the wheel of violence going round?!
To begin, as we have already discussed, we can refuse to participate in violence. We can decide to no longer be part of the problem. This removes us from the destruction and the chaos that naturally results from violence. As we stand apart from violence we choose life.
Healing comes as we reframe the stories that we tell. As we tell our stories, they become reframed. Our perspectives literally change and the Holy Spirit touches the way we perceive and remember things and we become increasingly healed.
In order to come through to the other side of hurt, harm, and the traumas of violence, we first of all become safe people 74 so that others in our communities are safe to share their stories.
When we enter into areas where there has been much devastation and where chaos has reigned, we may take care of the physical needs of the people, but even more importantly we attend to their stories in order that they may heal both emotionally and psychologically, able to move past all that went wrong.
And finally, we hold a space of restorative energy, focus, and agreement for them.
We engage our imagination, away from violence and justification and damage and toward their healing and wholeness in the Lord. We agree in heart, mind, spirit, words, and action, and in our imaginations towards their very best, the very best of God upon them!
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” Ephesians 1:17-18 ESV
This is a work of creative imagination unto wholeness that we can do for ourselves and each other. It is a work that we undertake for others, even those we may not know—the stranger on the street corner, the town drunk, the woman we may shun, the children we may accuse.
The heart of the Lord, the mind’s eye of God, holds out for the very best for all mankind, men, women and children. We are called to do the same.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 ESV
And so, there may be violence across the land. But we can begin to envision something different.
There may be trauma and harms revealed in our lives, but we can begin to envision something different.
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Colossians 3:2 ESV
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 ESV
Every single one of us has been given an imagination. Yet, far too often we use our imagination unto idolatries, perversions, angry justifications, unholy desires, and plans that would hurt and harm others.
Our imaginations were not intended to be used for the works of darkness! Rather, because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the assistance of our Holy Spirit, we can and must restore our imaginations alongside the light of God, to be used for peace, directed unto healing, invested in best intentions for others.
We have already been learning about agreements and about prayer. 75 Imagination is the place where our hearts intentions, the agreements of our spirits, the good-will of the Lord, and the words of our mouths come together in powerful advocacy of wholeness of ourselves, each other, our communities, and our nations.
Here is a glimpse of how this can work:
Consider that you have a child that you are concerned for. Perhaps your son is participating in activities that you do not agree with. Maybe your daughter is unsure about her future and you too, are worried.
In this sort of a scenario you would have a few options. 1.You can worry about your son or daughter. 2.You could lash out at him or her with angry words or, 3.You could take actions and manipulations that would harm her further. Yet, none of these options are very helpful.
In contrast, you could form an image in your minds eye of your son or daughter. Practice this right now. Imagine seeing your son or daughter (or someone close to you) as on a screen in your minds eye. What do you see? What do you want to see?
You have the ability to make, in your minds eye, what you want to see. You have god-given creativity within your minds eye to create an image of them making right choices, going forward into success.
Now, combine all of the ways of agreement that we have been learning:
Repeated from page 58 in Module TWO, agreements are made via our:
• Thinking • Emotions • Attitudes • Actions • Words
In other words:
• Intent – ‘I desire that my daughter have the best life possible’
• Emotion – ‘Yes, I am with a heart of good-will regarding her’
• Words – ‘I speak life over her’
• Actions – ‘I act in ways that will nurture and grow her’
In your imagination, combine your best intentions, with emotions of good will, the words that you speak, and the actions that you might choose unto your daughter. Then from this integrated and cohesive point of view declare her future success and well-being in this world in every way imaginable.
“God, today I lift my daughter to you in the name and the blood of my Lord Jesus Christ, and I declare all manner of good things upon her. I say ‘yes and amen’ to your wholeness and the nurture of the Lord in her life. I see her standing tall and strong, with choices, with healing, with wholeness, with peace and joy. I declare for her important work and vital influence in this world. Thank you God for my daughter and I say ‘yes and amen’ to all manner of your great love and provision over her days. Amen and amen.”
Can you tell how much more powerful this is for you (and her and the Lord) rather than worry, doubt and condemnation?
Of course, to pray this for our sons and daughters we may have to put down our worry at the feet of Jesus, we may have to forgive them for something, we may have to change our thinking regarding them, we may have to come into the thoughts of God for them (instead of our own crippling thoughts).
Now, imagine that you take this same habit of imagination, of heart intention unto blessing, of words that agree to Gods blessings, of spirit that says ‘yes’ to bounty and goodness, and of emotion that agrees to peace and joy for your community, for your neighbour, for your pastors, for your congregation, for the town drunk, for the village prostitute, for the disloyal husband, for the unjust policeman, for the crooked mayor — for the ones who would be your enemies?
What if you were to turn from:
• condemnations
• shame
• retributive thinking
• hatreds
• scheming destruction
• choosing words that kill
• all manner of death wishes
and instead TOWARDS
• the Lord regarding that person allowing your heart to be changed
• agreeing to the Lords peace
• joy and wholeness
• with healing unto them
Imagine if you were to agree to the Lords peace and joy and wholeness for the ones who deserve it least! Imagine how this might change the very nature of you and God, of God to your community.
This is the heart of sulha, the way of our Lord, the manner of the one true God who is slow to anger and abounding in love, the one who loves us with an everlasting love, who longs for our restoration and life on this earth and in the life to come.
This is the heart of Jesus Christ as he died a criminals death unto everlasting love, acting out and declaring as his own, all that has gone wrong and bad in this world, the sins of you and I, to bring us into reconciliation with God.
This, is the way that we become a people righteous in prayer—it is by agreeing to the Lords great and good heart unto all others.
The world becomes a different place as we:
• change our minds about people (to reflect the mind of God)
• change our hearts about others (to reflect the heart of Jesus for them)
• change our emotions regarding others (to live in sync with the goodness of God for them)
• change our words from death wishes to life declarations (powerful agreements unto life)
• change the pictures in our minds eye (to envision the life of God upon them)
This is the proper application for our imaginations. And it is here in the power of our imaginations, the formations of words and pictures and emotions brought together in heart and mind, with compassion and grace, that we participate in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth; the darkness rolls back and the light of Christ shines bright.
“A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:1-5 ESV
We come into the power of agreement, heart, mind, spirit, emotion, and in our minds eye, for ourselves, for those closest to us, for those who might be our enemy, and then for our communities and our nations.
We choose how we envision the places in which we live and do business. We choose how to see and imagine the areas where the Lord has placed us and where we have been called to minister. It is by agreement with the heart and mind and spirit of the Lord that mighty things begin to shift in the spirit realm and then in our day-to-day experiences on this earth. We pre-vision in our minds eye, in emotion, in good-will, and in words of declaration, the way of healing and wholeness for entire areas. For instance we pray aloud,
“God, I lift this community (say name of village, town, or district) to you in the name and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today I say ‘yes and amen’ to your heart and life and wholeness over this entire area.
To all the assignments of the enemy I say ‘no more!’, and to the life of your Spirit I say ‘Yes and Amen!’
God, I declare your love upon this place, I say yes to your grace, I declare your healing over every person within this community. We claim this land for your glory Lord. We roll back the assignments of the enemy and we call forth forgiveness, reconciliations, patience, love, joy and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And then, as we are in the community we act in accord with this good-will of the Lord upon that area. We choose to be the light of God, his church that ministers, and an accurate representation of Jesus to the people who live there.
We come in peace, we extend grace, we reconcile wherever possible, we serve in extravagant acts of love, we bind up wounds, we listen to the hard stories, and we advocate for justice and all that is right.
Of course, to do this, to come into this expansive heart of the Lord in emotion, action, words, and will, we will have to put down a few things:
• We put down our need to be right, and we work rightness into the land.
• We put down our selfishness to be big, and we use our ‘bigness’ to serve the least of these.
• We put down the temptation to defend ourselves, and we come ready to do what is right.
• We put down our need to be understood and approved, and we take on radical love to others.
• We put down our fears, and we risk to introduce others into authentic relationship with God.
• We put down our need to be concerned with self, and we come into concern for others.
• We put down our need to condemn, and we hold a space for their best in the light of God.
• We put down unforgiveness, and we pray restoration over our enemies.
We come into the love, trust and goodness of God, and we declare this same thing for others.
We declare this for others:
• in heart (our motives and intention regarding them)
• in deeds (our actions come into alignment with Gods love for them)
• in emotion (our longing becomes for their best)
• in words (we speak life and blessing)
• in imagination (we create images in our mind of their wholeness)
This, the alignment of heart, mind, spirit, will, words, emotions, and imagination, with Gods heart of grace, peace, joy, healing, patience, understanding, and wholeness, is our participation with the Kingdom of God.
This has the power to utterly transform our lives, personally and corporately, of self and family, and of community and nation.
“And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark 12:33 ESV
PRAYER
“God we come before you today in the name and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, would you help us to heal, would you reframe our lives in you. Give us the heart to call others into life in you. Would we advocate FOR them and not against them. Teach us to use the full strength of our emotions, imaginations, and knowledge of your heart to lift others to life in you. May we participate with your heart in the fullness of our hearts and minds. We love you God. Thank you for calling us into your fullness, thank you for giving this gift of life to us, may we agree to this for those we know. Amen.”
APPLICATION
To put hurt, harm, violence, and trauma behind us, forgiveness is vital. In many cases the perpetration of violence is often an eye for an eye kind of retributive thinking. To stop this violence from going round and round from generation to generation we engage in forgiveness.
Getting back, holding a grudge, remaining angry and hateful, demanding recompense, may feel good at the time but these kinds of retribution only keep the wheel of violence going. Forgiveness, putting down our hate and revenge, is a primary way of ceasing evil.
Forgiveness is not so much for our perpetrators, but rather, for ourselves as a way of loosing off traumas of the past, and entering into a new freedom for the future. Additionally, as we learned with sulha, a heart that is quick to forgive is a heart like Gods.
“The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.” Numbers 14:18 ESV
Forgiveness is vital to our own freedom of heart and spirit, body and mind, in this world. Forgiveness is absolutely necessary if we are to be free from the sins done against us. Without forgiveness we continue to be tied to past hurts, harms, and traumas.
If we want inner healing, if we want the transformation of the Lord, we must take courage to forgive those who have hurt and damaged our lives and the lives of those we love. Forgiveness is a primary piece of the Lords forgiveness.
Jesus taught and modelled forgiveness, as did his disciples:
“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34a ESV
“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Colossians 3:13 ESV
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 ESV
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 ESV
Additional verses to read:
- 2 Corinthians 2:5-11
- Luke 1:19-20
For inner healing we begin with forgiveness because, in order to find healing, we must put aside the other person and the hurt and the harm done to us; we must come simply as ourselves to the foot of the cross and into the presence of God.
To access inner healing we must be ready to take on responsibility for our responses to the hurts and harms against us. We must be ready to set aside blame and accusation (even if these things are accurate) and we must be ready to take on the light of the Lord.
This directs our attention to the need to put down our own anger that begins to be part of the problem of hurt and harm in this world.
In fact, we cannot loose off hurt and harm and trauma until we have declared forgiveness to the one who has harmed us most. This is a work done deeply in our own hearts and minds and spirits before the Lord. It is not always, rarely in fact, a work that must be done with others.
It is a heart of sulha, an intention unto forgiveness and restoration, that works out the justice of God on this earth. Remember, the heart of sulha is a heart intentional to live at peace with all people,
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Romans 12:18 ESV
First, we forgive ourselves for the violence we have done. We allow weeping in our core person, we come to understand the evil that we ourselves have done, and then we turn to Jesus with all of it. 76
We then become a changed people by word and deed. We do what we can to make things right. We take on healing for justice sake. 77
SUMMARY – HEALING & REFRAMING
It is love that accomplishes the work of God:1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 1 John 4:7-8; John 13:34-35; John 3:16-17; 1 Peter 4:8; Luke 6:35; Ephesians 5:25; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:2; Romans 12:9
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3b NIV
74 Module TWO, Month Five, Chapter 43, Application
75 Module TWO, Month Six, Chapter 48
76 REVIEW Module One, Month #1, Chapter 6, FREEDOM, Inner Healing Prayer Process taught
77 REVIEW Module One, Month #3, Chapter 20, Forgiveness, application – Healing Model for Justice
=> Let’s move forward to our lesson on Participation in Christ
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