Stop Dancing with The Enemy

By Mari Plank

Beloved daughter of the Most High God, are you tired of limitation and fears? Are you feeling unloved, or do you question your worth and value? Do you desire freedom or courage? Would you like to know the depth and width of God's love? Do you desire to be set free from the past? Do you lack self-confidence, or are you trapped by shame and guilt? Do you feel bound? Imprisoned? Limited? Stuck? Hopeless? Have you answered "yes" to any of these questions? Then this book is for you. Stop Dancing with the Enemy will help you:

• Gain insight as to the source of your limitations and how to move with more freedom and power through God's Word and His love.
• Gain freedom over insecurity
• Understand how your identity in Christ will heal and transform
• Overcome past abuse
•• Develop more confidence
• Defeat shame, guilt, and fear


There are many people who have exchanged the Truth for lies in their lives. We often do not recognize the lies because they are so familiar to us. We hear them echoing in our heart saying, "You are a failure; You are weak; You are nothing." We think they are just our own thoughts and so we continue to dance with the enemy. God's desire is for his great love and His truth to bring freedom, healing and transformation so you can dance with The Beloved.


Imagine you have come to watch the most exquisite dancers in the whole world. It is the grandest of all ballrooms. It is ornate and glorious in splendor. No detail overlooked. Her beautiful gown swirls around her feet, her hair and jewelry perfect. Look at her dance! Anyone that beautiful must not have any cares of this world. But her graceful movements and beauty are simply a cover-up for the truth.


Her partner greets and escorts her to the floor. He is wearing a tuxedo and appears to be the most handsome man ever. Appearance is deceiving and hides his true identity. The Deceiver has come to steal, kill, and destroy. He seems so inviting and such a skilled dancer. He knows exactly how to lead and direct her movements.


The audience is captivated by the exquisite performance. They clap and cheer as they execute difficult dance steps, spinning and twirling as one across the dance floor. Every step more intricate, every step synchronized perfectly to the music.
What they do not see are the chains that keep her shackled.


God gave Mari an amazing model based upon three powerful pillars: 1) God's love, 2) His Word and 3) Forgiveness. Using a tree symbol in a step by step process, she first identifies the client's fruit that is troublesome; secondly she helps clients to identify the lies that support and nourish the bad fruit (anything that is contrary to God's Word) in order to replace it with God's truth; thirdly she identifies the soil (sources of hurt, pain, limitation that caused the fruit); and lastly she helps clients apply genuine forgiveness. Mari has utilized this spirit-filled technique for amazing, quick, and effective results.

Listen to KPRZ interview with Mari about her book, Stop Dancing With The Enemy https://mariplanklifecoach.com/?p=1916

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098322878

Book preview

Forgiveness

Chapter One

Foundational Step 1:

Dance of Awareness

Examine me, God, from head to foot; order your

battery of tests. Make sure I am fit inside and out.

Psalm 26:2 The Message Bible

Love letter from heaven:

Precious One,

I desire to increase your awareness of how The Deceiver continually destroys your life through lack of understanding. Even though I broke the chains of death, sin, destruction, pain, suffering, and torment you remain bound through his deception and lies. Learn how My truth will set you free.

I desire for you to be a strong, healthy tree planted by My living water. You will bear fruit of truth, hope, love, confidence, and of My Holy Spirit. I destroyed The Deceiver and humiliated Him on the cross. I made a public mockery of Him when I rose again. My truth or wisdom will protect and watch over you.

***

Precious and The Deceiver began their dance. Precious is unable to hear or see and is shrouded in complete darkness. She relies on The Deceiver to lead, tell her what to believe, what to think, and what to feel. This causes more destructive reactions and responses. Precious sees the rotten, decayed, withered fruit she is bearing. Her diseased trunk is nourished by roots deeply embedded in lies, pain, devastation, disappointment, fear, and loss. The Deceiver intentionally calculates every step for her devastation. The more Precious allows him to lead, the greater the entanglement and imprisonment become.

What is awareness?

Awareness is recognition, realization, cognizance, perception, apprehension, and understanding. Hosea 4:6 tells us that God’s people perish for lack of knowledge. The Hebrew word for knowledge is da’at. This means knowledge, knowing, understanding, intelligence, wisdom, discernment, and skills. In each chapter, we will apply this foundational step to the chapter. Through awareness the doors of revelation and healing will be opened.

Why is it foundational?

The Dance of Awareness is important because it helps us to understand the relationship between our attitudes, actions, emotions, and our belief system. Our beliefs are conscious and unconscious truths that we believe to be true. In the chapter Dance of Lyrics this is explained in detail.

Awareness: Know Your Tree

So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. Matt. 7:17 ESV

A tree is a great illustration. Trees have fruit, trunk, and roots. Sickly or bitter fruit result from pests, diseases, or lack of proper soil or nutrients. Our fruit is what is seen on the outside. Our trunk or beliefs produce our fruit. The roots pull up whatever is in our soil. It nourishes the roots, trunk, and fruit.

God desires for us to be planted by the rivers of His water and will bring forth fruit in its season.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season , whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Ps. 1:1-5

Fruit. Fruit are attitudes, actions, emotions, behaviors, judgments, and perceptions. It reflects the nourishment it receives from the roots. The roots draw nourishment from the soil.

The trunk is our belief system or lyrics. The trunk is our belief system or lyrics and directly connects the roots with the fruit. It supports, protects, and nourishes the fruit.

The soil. The soil nourishes the entire tree through the roots. The fruit reflects the condition of the soil because it is draws up nutrients through the root system through the trunk and branches. We reflect what nourishes us as well.

Recognize the trunk

The trunk is our belief system and directly connects the roots with the fruit. It supports, protects, and nourishes the fruit. Later, we will refer to our trunk as lyrics.

Definition: thoughts, ideas, values, opinions, judgments, views, principles, conviction. Your thoughts determine what you become.

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink! he says to you, but his heart is not with you. Prov. 23:7

Renewed thoughts enable you to know God’s good and perfect will. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]. Rom. 12:1, 2 The Amp. Bible

Examples of beliefs: (This is not God’s good and perfect will for us to believe these)

I do not belong. I will always be on the outside (l am left out).

I do not believe God loves me unconditionally.

My feelings do not count. No one cares what I feel.

I am always afraid of rejection.

I will isolate myself so that I will not be vulnerable to hurt, rejection. etc. anymore.

I am not worthy to receive anything good from God.

I am not good enough.

I feel condemned.

I am dirty, unclean.

I am ashamed of myself.

Something is wrong with me.

I take care of myself because no one will.

My addiction makes me feel…

I am on my own, independent.

It is difficult to have healthy relationships.

It is uncomfortable to receive love.

I keep everyone at a distance.

I need control.

I am quick to cut off relationships.

I am codependent.

I am unable to submit and trust authorities, and view authorities as a vehicle of hurt.

I must perform.

I am afraid

I feel insecure.

I do not have worth.

I need to protect myself.

I need to distance myself from God.

Recognize the soil

The soil feeds the roots that extract nutrients and nourishes the entire tree. Our soil can be culture, relationships, how we were raised, experiences, etc. Soil feeds our trunk or beliefs and then produces fruit. We cannot change our past, but we can change our trunk through the Word of God, resulting in good fruit such as peace, love, joy, self-control, patience, goodness, healing, deliverance, healthy relationships, etc.

My testimony:

Prior to my healing I was an emotional mess. Depressed, zero selfesteem, negative self-image, self-hater, constant fear of rejection and driven by performance. I was drawn to my husband who had similar emotional baggage. Domestic violence, codependency, and victimization created traumatic experiences for my children and me.

There were five years of dating and four years of a tumultuous relationship. Four times a year I would run away with my kids to temporary shelter with friends or family.

Prompted by promises of change, we would reunite. Things were okay for a short time, until escalation began, and the violence and trauma would happen repeatedly. The cycle repeated itself over time. During that time, the Lord was teaching me the whys of my victimization. Blaming my husband seemed perfectly justified since he was the perpetrator.

However, I had responsibility to learn The Dance of Awareness. Awareness of how partners in domestic violence interacted. I had to understand my fruit, beliefs, the soil, and roots. God used this awareness and brought healing to many pervasive emotional and relational entanglements.

Over the course of time, God healed and delivered me. He restored my soul, healed my low self-esteem, caused me to understand my worth and value in Christ. My children and future grandchildren were spared from inheriting the trauma and sin of domestic violence.

In conclusion, The Dance of Awareness is the first foundational step in Stop Dancing with the Enemy. God’s truth will set you free. God’s love will heal worthlessness and low self-esteem and break cycles of abuse, self-hatred, and dysfunctional relationships. It will restore your heart, soul, and mind and allow you to dance with The Beloved as His precious daughter.

***

Dance with The Beloved

The Beloved offers Precious His hand, and they begin to dance. It is painful to see the fruit, lyrics, and roots that have caused so much pain. Unlike The Deceiver who shrouded her in darkness to keep awareness away, The Beloved’s light wraps her awareness in grace, love, and hope. Where light is, there is healing and truth. Truth brings freedom. He shows her now as a tree planted by His living water. Her fruit reflects healing and restoration. There is assurance, confidence, love, and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Her trunk is healthy and strong through the Word.

Her roots are nourished by God’s Love and His Power. The Beloved’s desire to bring new awareness to Precious was motivated by His love. There was no condemnation. Even when she stumbles and falls back into the arms of The Deceiver, The Beloved is always there with open arms. He is always willing to dance again with Precious.

***

Dance your way to freedom! Envision yourself as the dancer.

https://mariplanklifecoach.com/dance-of-awareness/

Chapter Two

Foundational Step 2:

Dance of the Word

How sweet are your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

Love letter from heaven:

Precious One,

How I want you to learn My Dance of the Word. I desire My truth to be your foundation. I delight in showing you how to dance with grace and freedom. My Word is life-giving, healing, and it will transform your life. I desire for it to become deep-heart knowledge. I desire for you to be planted next to My living water and blossom as My beautiful flower. Drink in My Word. Allow its refreshing truth to wash away the decay and old ways.

***

Precious and The Deceiver begin to dance. The floor beneath them is crumbling, decayed, and treacherous, and there is no foundation beneath her feet. She is slipping into what feels like a dark abyss. Negative unspoken words of others and judgments are spiraling around, causing fear and condemnation. Her soul feels like the dark night of endless despair. The Deceiver’s words are like shards of glass cutting her