We need to learn how to make our perception better match our experience.
Again: The proper approach to understanding reality is to understand that there is only perception and experience. Our minds are fallen and it’s just too easy to believe the Devil’s lies and operate from a deeply mistaken perception. The whole issue of heart-led living is allow the heart of conviction to overwhelm those lies, because convictions are written on the soul by the finger of God, rather like the Tablets of Law God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The mind is not able to free itself. It’s part of the fallen fleshly nature and is too arrogant to heed the truth from the heart. We must learn how to move our conscious focus to the heart and humble the mind. It’s a constant battle to compel the mind to unlearn the lies of Satan.
God has granted us insight into this battle. In the Law Covenants are quite a collection of rituals designed to educate the mind. The heart knows and loves ritual for what it does; the symbolism speaks to the mind powerfully and can help to overcome the effects of the Curse of the Fall. Rituals break down the barriers inside the mind to healing false perception.
The trick for you and I today is not so much aping the exact rituals of the Old Testament. It’s understand consciously how those rituals spoke to those people in that context. We need to understand how the rituals Jesus taught us in the New Testament arise from those old rituals, how they are connected and what they should represent for us. It has always been a human failing to focus too much on the ritual and not grasp the meaning. You alone can keep that truth alive in performing the rituals as the means for the heart to discipline the mind.
The rituals themselves are not sacred in the sense that you must follow this or that particular ritual in the Bible narrative. You must approach the task with fear and trembling before the Lord and build your own rituals to match the experience and context of your own life. That freedom is not absolute; there has to be a balance between correcting bad habits of the mind versus what speaks to your mind.
My personal preference is simplicity in building rituals. Naturally, I take some from the Old Testament, and observe those commanded in the New Testament. I often borrow from Native American tribal rituals, as well, because they are both familiar and new. There is nothing morally superior in this choice; it feels like the home ground of my soul. It helps me to soothe fears and build faith. My life is filled with ritual in that sense. Seek the Lord in discerning what works for you.
Instead of prescribing rituals for you, I’m going to suggest certain elements and offer a prophetic word that you are obliged to do it yourself. Get to know the heart-led way of living and commune with reality as your own personal ally. Let your rituals reflect that communion.
Let me suggest you perform one ritual in particular: Cleansing Incidental Curses. Make some notes; using a cue card isn’t going to give Satan some secret advantage here. Pray about what will help you shift your perception away from fears of the Devil’s power. Repeat the performance periodically until it loses its effect — a sign that your perception is closer to reality.
One thing in particular: Don’t get too hung up on rebuking the Devil. Respect him as a noble in God’s courts. Think in terms of declining his invitations, since he has no real authority over you. He is far more powerful than us, but we don’t belong to him. Serve notice of departure from his domain. Disrespect of an angelic power is sheer folly, so don’t taunt them when you sense their presence. My attitude is, “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not going to join you on that.”
Related to that, I suggest you avoid the language of “binding the powers of Darkness.” That’s been carried way too far in popular Charismatic circles. It breeds arrogance and becomes yet another open door to sin. I believe it works better to think in terms of renunciation. Refuse to cooperate with lies.
I will outline a suggested cleansing ritual and some explanation in the next post.
