“You can never look up.” That is a statement of shame and disgrace. It is a lie for those who have a heart fashioned in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Again, this is a stronghold that needs to be cast down by the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus looked at the children of Israel who were coming to Him, He saw them as sheep that were downcast. This is language that describes a sheep that has eaten the wrong things, and is lying on its back, its feet in the air, its body bloated by the toxins that were in the bad plants.
If we eat lies it will eventually kill us. Jesus is the only One who can help us eat truth. In John 14, He says of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It can be a challenge, speaking the truth, particularly if you have been listening to lies for a long time. But in John chapter ten, Jesus speaks of Himself as the Good Shepherd, “And when He brings out His own sheep, He goes before them; and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This is how Jesus wants us to function, listening to and acting upon His voice, and not the voice of the enemy.
I remember vividly, dealing with the stronghold of “Downcast”. There was a tall tower in my heart and beside it a deep dark pit. It was like a black hole, trying to suck me in and keep me in darkness forever. There was so much shame, disgrace, embarrassment, and despair in that bottomless pit. Where had all the shame come from? It was not just my cross-dressing and dreams of being a woman … no, it was things that happened to me in my past … things that I couldn’t remember … only Jesus could show me … I couldn’t go there in my own strength … I needed Him to hold my hand.
In John chapter ten, Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I will give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” Psalm 73 says, “Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.”