Put Your Foot Down

I think it’s time to put your foot down. To put your foot on the neck of your enemies and take authority over the things that are controlling you. It may sound a little harsh… to put your foot on the neck of your enemies. But if you have lived under intimidation, manipulation, control of any kind, then you know what I’m talking about. 

As a Christian, in the spiritual world we wrestle every day with forces that try their best to intimidate us, manipulate us, and control us. The very things that make us cringe are the things that the enemy will use against us to prevent us from growing and living the abundant life that Christ died in order for us to have! He will even use people to do it to us.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. ~Ephesians 6:12 NLT

For years I lived in fear of what others thought about me. I feared what they would do if I stepped one toe out of line (their specifications, not mine). I hated confrontation because it usually meant that someone didn’t like something that I said or did. I had many strongholds and those were the things that controlled me, when a living person wasn’t breathing down my neck.

I became the victim of my own mind, allowing anxiety, worry, depression, panic, and imagined conversations to come into my mind and control every move I made. When presented with a live person, I could not function. Certain people knew how to control me; whether it was a derogatory comment, presented as a joke, or whether it was a direct insult or confrontation. I allowed it for too many years.

When God healed my mind, He also set me on a journey to learn exactly how to put my foot on the neck of my enemies and take back the life He gave me! The term to “put your foot on the neck of your enemy” is to take authority. We have been given the authority, by Jesus Christ, to take charge of our situations. We do not have to let others control or intimidate us. We do not have to suffer depression, intimidation, manipulation, or any other mind game that the enemy throws at us!

There are many places in the Bible where people overcame their enemies simply by obeying what God told them to do. They got His favor over their lives, and He took care of them. In the Book of Joshua, there were five evil kings who had heard of Joshua’s victory over the enemies of the children of Israel. These kings banned together to overtake Joshua and destroy him, but God had other plans. He delivered these kings and all the people of the land into the hands of the children of Israel.

When Joshua captured the five kings, he didn’t immediately kill them. Since God had delivered their enemies into their hands, they would not be defeated… but their enemies would. He, Joshua, could have killed the kings himself, but look how he encouraged the Israelites and taught them that they, too had the authority over their enemies:

Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told. “Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua told his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord is going to do this to all of your enemies.” ~Joshua 10:24b-25 NLT

God has given us the same authority that He gave to Joshua… that He gave to the Israelites. If we trust in Him, we can have the assurance that whatever it is that is trying to bully us, if we put our feet on the neck of our enemy (in other words, stand up for what we know God has told us to do) we will be victorious! Nothing will touch us!

Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ~Ephesians 6:14 NLT (emphasis added)

No more will depression, anxiety, worry, manipulation, or intimidation bully me! I am putting my foot down and I’m keeping it down! I am not the same person I was last year, or even thirty years ago! One of the greatest moments since my healing was when my husband looked at me with surprise and stated, “People don’t intimidate you anymore, do they!” My answer? “No.”

It’s time to take a stand. It’s time to put your foot down. Take the authority that God has given to you. Say, “No more!” Stand. Then God will do the rest.