Exposing Bitter Root Strongholds
Table of Contents
Chapter Title Page
1 Exposing Strongholds………………........................................…..……2
2 The Foundations of Strongholds………..........................................….10
3 The Energy Source Behind Strongholds………............…………….17
4 The False Belief Structures That Strongholds Create……………23
5 Demolishing Strongholds…………….........................................……..27
6 The Death Process To Strongholds…….........................................….34
Additional Informtion…........................................................................………………44
Chapter #1: Exposing Strongholds
“See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:10 NIV)
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:4,5 KJV)
From The Message, “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”
Introduction
There is a danger in talking about woundedness. It may cause a person to focus more upon their pain than upon God’s ability to heal them. This can create a “victim” mentality—believing that others are the source of all of their problems. We aren’t focusing on fault-and-blame but cause-and-effect. We must always keep our focus on the Cross!
Our goal is not to exalt strongholds or to give them any credit. This only serves to puff them up, making them appear that they have an unyielding influence in our lives. Our goal is to expose them to the light as we become familiar with how strongholds are rooted in us, how they steal the life of God from us, how to effectively bring them to death, and then how to enter into a new resurrection life in Christ.
Recent Studies Reveal That:
58% -- of Americans have mild to moderate mental health problems
24% -- have moderate to major mental health problems
82% -- of the country is emotionally unhealthy
Signs Of Emotional Immaturity And Emotionally Unhealthy Traits
· selfishness
· pleasure-seeking mentality
· living in a dream or fantasy world
· tendency towards destructive behavior
· irresponsibility
· disregard for consequences of action
· lack of self-discipline
· chronic depression
· phobias
· addictions
· inability to adjust
· distorted views of reality
· anxieties
· disruptive behavior
· compulsions
· chronic relationship problems
· dysfunctional behavior – “don’t trust, don’t talk, don’t feel”
Most of these characteristics reveal that a person has experienced a love deficit in his or her life. They may have been loved all through their lives, yet the love was not expressed in a way that met their need and it has left them with a wound. Woundedness hinders a person’s ability to receive love and to give love. It steals energy and emotional and physical resources. People spend so much time and energy fighting off the pain or hiding behind walls of self-protection that they have nothing left for their family or for others.
“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luke 6:43-45)
Good Fruit, Good Root! Bad Fruit, Bad Root!
Our position in Christ: “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Our experience in Christ: But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Matthew 13:24-30 the Tares among wheat principle
“…allow both wheat and tares to grow together until the harvest…”
illustration – a jungle growing in the middle of a desert in the Middle East
“Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up.”
(Matthew 15:13)
The Power of the Flesh
“For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate…So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me…For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish…But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” (Romans 7:15-20)
The Cause: Many of our problems begin with negative or destructive thinking
“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” (James 1:14)
The effect: Negative thinking produces sin.
“Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” (James 1:15)
“The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant and has a baby: SIN!” (James 1:14, 15 - The Message)
In James 4:1, we see the source of most of our relationship problems: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?”
The power of the flesh far exceeds the power of the devil to hinder our spiritual growth and maturity. Satan is already a defeated foe. His only strength lies in his ability to deceive us. More power and authority is not what we need to mature in the Lord. What is needed is more light! We need to bring more truth to those areas where we have not seen the obedience of Christ in our lives.
Sources of Relational Problems:
1) Wounding………………………….……………Proverbs 17:22; 18:14; 18:8
2) Negative Thinking Pattern……..…Proverbs 23:7a; Job 3:25; Hosea 2:5
3) Sin…………………………………………..Romans 7;17; James 1:14; 15; 4:1
4) Darkness………………………………..………………I John 1:5-7; 2:10, 11
5) Demonic Realm………………………………….Acts 10:38; Ephesians 6:12
What Are Strongholds?
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds). We are destroying speculations (imaginations) and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…”
(2 Corinthians 10:4, 5)
“speculations or imaginations.” In Greek, these words mean reasonings, thoughts, and imaginations that precede and determine our conduct.
In Biblical times, a stronghold was a fortress built with walls and defenses to provide protection against the enemy. Usually they were built on a hill so attackers had to climb up to reach the fortress. Some were dens and caves on ridges and mountainsides. Others were fortified cities or towns strengthened to overcome the enemy. Enemy invaders would build catapults to hurl boulders against the walls and gates trying to find a weak spot. Fire bombs would be hurled inside the walls to create havoc and destruction.
Definitions of Strongholds
“Collections of thoughts that are lies against what God has revealed about Himself” – Mike Bickle
“Fortresses of thought” – Francis Frangipane
“Habit-structure of thought” – John Sandford
Characteristics of Strongholds
· Strongholds are habit-structures of thought that exist in the area of our soul: our mind, will, emotions, and personality. Hidden within the soul they have the ability to influence the negative thought patterns of our life.
· Strongholds are habitual lies that we have embraced at the core of our inner being. They are built by a foundation of lies and half-truths. They have become a fortress of thought that influence the way we respond to the truth about God’s character within us.
· Strongholds are spiritual fortresses of thought where demonic influences may hide and be protected. Any area of darkness within our thoughts is an open door to demonic activity. Satan traffics in darkness. God traffics in light.
· Strongholds exalt themselves above the knowledge of God and give demonic forces a secure place to influence our mind, will, emotions, and personality.
· Strongholds are wrong motivations and attitudes that protect and defend a person’s walk in the flesh.
· Strongholds can lie so hidden within our soul that we don’t recognize or identify them as sin but take on the attitude, “That is the way I have always been. This is the way my family is. It is my cultural or ethnic background. How can I expect to be any different?”
· Strongholds can keep a person from experiencing repentance and from seeking the Lord in such a way that He breaks the habitual fortress of thought or emotion in them.
· Strongholds have a sick core, or center, like a boil on a person’s body. From this point, they can send forth twisted thoughts and emotions throughout the soul.
Jesus said in John 14:30, “…that Satan has nothing in Me.” Jesus had no hidden lies, wrong attitudes, impure motives, or wrong habits that Satan could use as an open door to influence His life.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)
Habit
An act repeated so often that it becomes involuntary. There is no new decision of mind each time the act is performed.
· Habits have “lives” of their own.
· Habits are created by a series of choices that give birth to the habit.
· Habits have “voices” of their own and talk to you all the time.
· Not all habits are demonic in nature.
We are created in God’s image and have the ability to birth life out of a series of choices. The life birthed is called a habit.
Examples: coffee, soft drinks, tea, cigarettes, sugar, ice cream, or various foods
“Habits are powerful factors in our lives…Our character basically is a composite of our habits. As the maxim goes, ‘Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.’” – Steven Covey, from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
The Purposes behind mental
strongholds
· They produce negative thoughts within us in order to block us from giving or receiving love.
· They restrict our knowledge of God.
· They can give us tunnel vision so we do not see wrong from right.
· They shape our value system and how we value and treat others.
· They distort our priorities in life.
· They often hinder us from receiving and walking in truth.
· They can make straight thinking difficult by guarding our weak spots with false feelings and emotions.
· They send negative messages to our soul.
· They cause us to draw negative conclusions as to how we relate to people.
· They cause us to do the things we don’t want to do (Romans 7:15, 19, 20).
When our thoughts continue to dwell upon feelings of fear, insecurity, unbelief, doubt, lusts, control, striving, unrest, bitterness, resentment, criticisms, unforgiveness, or habitual sin, a strong deceiving hold begins to build in us like a fortress. Then these responses of our flesh automatically come forth from the habit structures of thought built within us
Until these habitual lies are “uprooted, torn down, overthrown, and destroyed,” it will be difficult to walk in the Spirit and manifest the presence of Christ in that area of our life.
God changed our hearts, we crucify our habits!
To break free from strongholds we must adopt an offensive posture! God changes our heart! We change our habits!
“All men are liars….” (Psalm 116:11)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
“Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I shall be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.” (Psalm 19:12, 13)
Presumptuous Sins “are those we commit when we presume our conduct is acceptable to God when, in fact, it offends Him. God does not reveal these sins to us unless we deliberately choose to humble ourselves and invite God to search our character and motives.” – Derek Prince
We rarely realize how often our actions, motives, and words are influenced by pride, vanity, control, and/or the need to be loved and accepted by others! It often is not our conscious, thinking state that determines our words and actions. Quite often we are influenced by “the spirit of our mind” or the sub-conscious mind.
Negative thinking in our life blocks us from God’s love and from loving and receiving love from others. Studies reveal that 80% of the average person’s thinking is negative and 20% is positive. God is love and God is light. His thinking is always positive. Satan is the accuser and the liar. His thinking is always negative. If even 51% of our thinking leans towards the negative side, then strongholds have far too much influence in our lives. They are stealing our faith, energy, and resources. We have little left to give to others.
Renew the mind – Our conscious thoughts make up 12% of our actions and attitudes.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
Renew “The spirit of the mind” – Our sub-conscious thoughts make up 88% of our actions and attitudes.
“In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
The Foundations
2
Of Strongholds
“And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49)
There are many Christians who appear to be very mature in many areas of their lives. Then along comes a trial, a temptation, or stormy circumstances and we find them falling into negative responses to trying situations. Let us look at the foundational makeup of strongholds so that we can further bring to light things that may have been hidden in darkness for years within one’s soul.
Common Ways Strongholds are
built within us
1) Strongholds can be passed down from generation to generation through the iniquities of our forefathers.
“…visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me…” (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9)
Every act of obedience upon our part is an inheritance to our children. So, too, every act of disobedience they may also inherit. Every choice we make to walk in light influences our children and every choice we make to walk in darkness influences our children.
Many times strongholds are built within us from just living in our father’s house. There may have been no apparent wounding, yet we find ourselves walking in the same sinful and destructive lifestyle of our fathers later in our adult years.
Examples: The lust of the eyes in men.
The apparent lack of a need to give or receive affection.
A non-emotionally expressive person who lives out of the resources of his or her mind alone.
2) Strongholds can be built within us from deep hurts or wounds we have received.
“A broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)
“A broken spirit who can bear?” (Proverbs 18:14)
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more… For the Lord has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected.” (Isaiah 54:4,6)
Our past experiences with relationships have caused us to draw conclusions about life. These relationships may shape our value system as to what we see as wrong or right. They may determine how we interact with people in the future, even with God. They may distort the way we relate to our families. We begin to see life and others through the lens of how others have treated us.
Examples: Hidden pain results in:
Seeking pleasure in order to comfort ourselves in the flesh.
Seeking love and acceptance in all the wrong places.
Finding security in control, domination, intimidation, or manipulation. This helps us to fight off the fear of man and insecurity and to stay in our comfort zones.
3) Strongholds can be built within us by a Misinterpretation of love – How we perceive love or rejection.
“And he (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him… he settled in defiance of all his relatives.” (Genesis 16:12; 25:18)
We were created in God’s image. God is love. God is light. God is a relational being. We, too, were created for love and relationships. We were created for love to flow through every fiber of our being. We have been destined to receive love so that we spend our lives giving love away to others.
If we have misinterpreted the “love” that came our way, it can often leave a wound. Often parents express their love by the things they do for us and not by heart-felt, expressed love given through words and touch. This can leave a hidden anger within people because they feel they have not been given the love they were created to receive. It may distort our view of authority figures in our lives or of Father God.
Examples: A father who has to work all the time to meet the financial needs of the family, but the child interprets this as a lack of love.
A sickly newborn who goes from the mother’s womb t an incubator may experience the wound of abandonment or rejection.
Parents spend more time with the new baby or with a handicapped child and the other children may receive that as a rejection of them. They may feel like everyone else is favored but not them.
4) Strongholds can be built within us by judgments or the inner vows we make towards others, ourselves, or God.
“They speak mere words, with worthless oaths they make covenants; and judgments sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.” (Hosea 10:4)
Whenever you judge another person out of a deep wound or disappointment, it always comes back to you in one form or another. It is the law of sowing and reaping. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We will see this more clearly in the next chapter.
Examples: Perhaps you were hurt deeply by a girlfriend or boyfriend and said to yourself, “I’ll never let anyone hurt me like that again.” Then you find yourself hardening your heart towards all men or women later in life. It can overflow into the relationship with your spouse.
Oftentimes people judge God for His not being faithful to His Word. This can happen when someone prays for a loved one to be healed of an illness, but they die.
You can judge parents for not meeting your financial needs as a child or for not keeping their promises. In your adult life, you do not have faith for others to help you or for God to meet your need.
5) Strongholds can be built withing us through the words that people speak over us.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit…The words of a whisper are like dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the body.” (Proverbs 18:21, 8)
There is something soft and tender inside of a person that can be pierced by words. This can affect them for years to come. Words can be like railroad tracks that we seem destined to follow our entire life. It seems that they are often prophetic in nature, especially the words that come from a father or mother. Later in life we want to change some destructive pattern in our life that has followed these words, but it seems unyielding, no matter how hard we try. We can’t seem to “jump track” (get re-directed) onto a new course.
Examples: If a man is constantly criticized by a mother, he may spend his whole life trying to earn the praise and recognition of a woman.
A father responds our of anger, “You never do anything right! What is the matter with you?” It can leave a person feeling clumsy andlike a hopeless fool. Then failure seems to follow them everywhere or they become “driven” at what they do, trying to prove to their father that he was wrong.
A father may use the words, “You never finish anything you start.” This may result in a person’s being a quitter. He or she jumps from one job to another and from one place to another.
6) Strongholds can be built within us through false doctrine or false teaching.
“But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:7, 8)
“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
Any teaching that does not represent the Spirit of Christ can become a corporate stronghold. The spirit of Christ is grace, mercy, compassionate love, meekness, and lowliness of heart. He always brought comfort and lifted people up and never made them feel condemned. He expressed value and worth to those who were downtrodden and castaways of the religious “good” people. A person did not have to do it right al the time in His eyes. They did not have to meet up to a rigid list of rules to be loved and accepted by Him. He did not condone sin, but let the people now that the Father was not angry at them for their sin. He love them the way they were, and this would be the motivation for them to draw to the Father.
A “corporate stronghold” is a way of thinking, feeling, or acting that a group accepts as truth. It is built within people one thought at a time until lies or deception become truth to them. Hitler said to his generals, “If we tell the people a lie long enough, sooner or later they will begin to believe it.” They often become a hiding place for demonic oppression.
Examples: Teachings within the church can lean towards stressing performance for God’s approval and acceptance of us instead of His favor being released because of God’s love and grace for us.
There are many groups who only accept you if you think like they do. You must accept their teachings without question. They lack grace for those who think differently. If you do not match up to their beliefs, you are shunned or rejected.
Cults can captivate people’s minds, and they begin believing a lie over the truth. It may be the homosexual deception that God created them that way so no change is possible. It may be the drug or New Age culture that says their lifestyle is the only one that brings peace and freedom from the evils and pains of society.
7) Strongholds can be built withn us through our ethnic or cultural backgrounds.
“No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord. No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.” (Deuteronomy 23:2-4)
Corporate strongholds exist in every culture or ethnic group. They develop over a period of time from a practiced belief or tradition that has been around for ages. People accept that this is the way they are so there is no possibility of change. We must ask ourselves “Is this personality or character trait like our forefathers and countrymen or is it like Christ?” If it is not like Christ, then, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” “For the mind set on the flesh is death…because the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God….” (John 3:6; Romans 8:6, 7)
Examples: Americans pride themselves on their independence. This has overflowed into our relationships with God and each other. We tend to feel we don’t need anyone. “I did it my way!”
Asian cultures are often extremely performance-oriented. The Japanese may be the most performance-oriented culture on earth.
Europeans tend to be very reserved in giving expressed love and affection towards their children. This is especially true of the Scandinavian countries.
8) Strongholds can be built by our negative thinking patterns and false belief structures.
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7a)
“For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.” (Job 25)
Positive thoughts are always associated with God and negative thoughts with Satan. The accuser accuses! The comforter comforts! What we believe about ourselves is true, even if it is a lie. If we allow the accuser to continually bring our thoughts towards self-condemnation and self-judgment, then our emotions will follow our thinking like a caboose follows the engine of a train. If our emotions and thinking remain negative, they affect the way we see life, the way we treat others, and the way we feel about ourselves. This can even overflow into our physical health.
Examples: If we think long enough that we have no value and self-worth, then we will “sell ourselves” out very cheaply and treat ourselves the way we fell. Thus addictions, self abuse, or sexual promiscuity can result.
If we believe that no one loves or cares about us, then we draw rejection out of people. People end up treating us like we feel about ourselves. Depression and hidden death wishes can result.
If we continue to think that life is too painful to live and that we just want to go to be with Jesus, then our body can respond to the thoughts of death – and sickness sets in.
Breaking Free From Mental Strongholds
· We must acknowledge the influence that is at work in our self-life.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of god, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
· We must allow the Lord to lead us into repentance.
“…the kindness of god leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4)
· We must become sensitive daily to which voice we are listening to and acting upon in our thoughts, emotions, and actions.
“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, letyour mind dwell on these things.” (Colossians 3:2; Philippians 4:7)
· We must realize that this is a battle that we cannot win alone. I can only daily enter into partnership with Christ and let Him live His life through me.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
· When you begin to dismantle any deceiving strongholds, you must be ready for them to fight back. They will seek to defend themselves.
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” (Galatians 5:17)
· Stand firm and endure the trials and temptations that will come.
“…and having done everything, to stand firm….For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus…If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” (Ephesians 6:13; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:12)
The Energy
3
Source Behind
Strongholds
“Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God…but it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” (Deuteronomy 28:1, 2, 15)
“The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty.” (Isaiah 24:5,6)
Wherever the laws and principles of God are violated, there is a curse that is set into motion. God has not set the curse in motion, but law and disobedience do. God established law to hold the universe in order. Where laws have been violated, confusion and disorder are results.
· There are laws of gravity that keep order in the universe.
· There are laws of nutrition that provide health and vitality.
· There are laws of physics that state for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
· There are laws of propulsion and aerodynamics that hold planes in the sky.
Violate any of these laws of God for a season and you will see destruction occur. When you see confusion, disorder, relationship problems, or oppression in you life, it usually is because somewhere, someone has violated Biblical laws and principles.
“Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures; either God’s law or the prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s law will be alive and working.” (Matthew 5:17, 18 from The Message)
Strongholds often have a hidden energy source that drives them. It is when the foundational energy source of the stronghold remains hidden that it multiplies its power the most to influence us. It is like an old Grandfather clock with a main spring that feeds the motion of the pendulum. Without the spring’s providing energy to the pendulum, there would be no motion at all. Broken law is the mainspring behind the hidden energy source that gives motion to most destructive behavior.
God does not have to judge our faults and failures. He sent His Son to set us free from the results of our sins and the sins of others against us. He established law to keep order in all things. God does not have to police us because law polices itself.
Satan Traffics in Law!
· Satan takes advantage of the law so that he can release a curse in our lives. He is the accuser of the brethren. He is the prosecutor who is always pronouncing us, “Guilty, guilty, guilty,” of every violation of law. Any violation of law that goes unconfessed in our lives opens a door of darkness within us, and Satan has a right to steal from us by demanding the law be fulfilled.
God Traffics in Grace!
· Through the Cross of Jesus Christ, God has shouted out, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13) Even though we have not deserved His love, He has committed Himself to His law. When, through the Cross and repentance, we cry out for grace and mercy for ourselves for those who have hurt us, then we move out of the clutches of the law onto the side of grace. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (Galatians 3:13)
God does not judge our failures, but law does
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:22)
“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:17, 18)
“And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” (John 12:47, 48)
The Father’s Attitude towards us when we fail
“Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:11)
“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:19, 20)
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” (Matthew 23:37)
These verses reveal that the heart of God is to bless us, not to curse us, even in our disobedience. Law polices itself. Satan takes advantage of the law to judge us and condemn us, not God. There is no need for God to judge us. Law judges by our reaping what we have sown. Therefore, we can be free from the curse of the law: “If we judge ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31)
Four Laws to healthy relationships and to releasing the blessings of God
1) The law of honoring our parents
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. (Ephesians 6:1-3)
This law states that in every way we honor our parents, blessing comes to our lives. Honor means to have respect and value for a person even if we do not agree with his or her behavior. But what if the opposite happens? What if, in our heart, there is resentment and bitterness towards them? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, and law is set into motion.
“Trees will bear fruit after their kind, with seed in them.” (Genesis 1:11) Pears always produce pears. Wheat always produces wheat. In whatever area you did not honor your parents, in that very same area you may find yourself having problems as an adult or in your own family. It is law!
You may say that you have no conscious memory of dishonoring your parents, but remember that thoughts lie. Feelings lie. Emotions lie. The only truth in our lives is the fruit of our lives. What fruit do our relationships and lives bear? “You know the tree by the fruit it bears.” (Matthew 12:33)
2) The Law of judging
“Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1,2)
“And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:37, 28)
Judgment is when we judge others out of a wound or out of feelings of rejection. If in our heart there is blame, condemnation, jealousy, envy, unrighteous anger and bitterness, or unforgiveness, then this can be judgment. It sets into motion God’s unchangeable laws. We must ask ourselves, “Do we judge by the fruit of the Spirit or by the deeds of the flesh?”
“They speak mere words, with worthless oaths they make covenants; and judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.” (Hosea 10:4)
Law demands that when we judge another (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction), judgment must come back to us. It is not God’s judging us, but the law.
When we judge another person for the wrongs done to us, then we are demanding payment for those wrongs. If we want justice, then the same rules apply to us. We cannot ask for mercy for ourselves and judgment for others who have wronged us.
When we despise, resent, or hold bitterness towards others for what they have done to us, we are really crying out for justice. That is making a judgment against people for their faults and failures. When we demand justice, we step out of grace and into Satan’s (the prosecutor’s) court of law. The prosecutor’s judgment against us for judging others is the curse of reaping what we sow.
3) The law of sowing and reaping
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7,8)
“For they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)
Every good deed we sow will eventually reap blessing. But so, too, every deed sown in dishonor or judgment will also reap seed after its kind. It is law, not God’s judging us. And we always reap more than we sow.
Reaping may come years after the deed has been forgotten. We may not even have been aware that in our attitudes we were sowing the seed of judgment at the time.
At least three great harvest times:
· our wedding day
· our first child being born
· our children growing into teen years
4) The law of becoming what we judge in others
“Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” (Romans 2:1)
It would be helpful to read Romans 2:1-16. In verse 12 we see that the judgment of God is the LAW judging us. It is the curse the prosecutor, Satan, levies against us.
When we judge another person and allow it to take root in us, then eventually it may bring forth a harvest of the same behavior being found in our lives, the life of our spouse, or in the lives of our children. Then Romans 7:19 begins to become a reality in our lives, “The good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.”
So many people have said, “I’ll never raise my children the way my parents raised me,…” only to find themselves doing many of the same things they judged as their parent’s faults and weaknesses!
Others may have followed the pattern of simply judging others harshly who display similar behavior or personality traits that they judged in someone earlier in life who hurt them.
If you’ve got the fruit, you’ve got the root!
Much of what we reap in our lives, family, and relationships comes from what we have sown in judgment against others. We may be reaping from our spouse what we judged in the faults and weaknesses of one of our parents. Or, we may be reaping things from our children, friends, or work mates.
These broken laws can cause strongholds to run deep within us because it is often difficult for us to admit we are still hurt or angry inside or that we still carry resentments. Our loyalty to ourselves or to parents prevents us from seeing the roots. But there is no escape from law other than the power of the Cross.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (Galatians 3:13)
Without repentance, broken laws become the hidden energy source that drives our fleshly behavior patterns! Satan takes advantage of the broken law by imposing a curse!
Questions we must ask ourselves
· Are we duplicating things in our lives that we resented in our parents or someone else – character traits, actions, emotional patterns, motives or attitudes?
· Are we acting out an attitude, emotion or behavior that we said we would never do?
· Has the Holy Spirit been working on us in an area of our lives but we seem powerless to overcome it? Does there seem to be a driving force behind it that we have no control over?
· Do we find ourselves reacting to people in an un-Christlike way even when we determined in our mind to deal with it in a Christlike way? Do we wonder why we acted that way?
“Yes” responses to these questions may reveal that law is at work in us. We may have judged another person and agreed with Satan and released a curse in our own life. Now a stronghold has been built that exalts itself above the knowledge of God in our lives.
The false belief
4
structures that
strongholds create
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15)
“As a man thinks within himself, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7a)
“For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.” (Job 3:25)
We have learned to experience life in a certain way through all of life’s experiences and circumstances. We have developed habits of thought and emotions that determine whether we receive life or death, truth or deception from others and ourselves. This can be a “stronghold” or “root.”
· God – Do we have an image of God as loving, forgiving and compassionate? Or do we see Him as unloving, unforgiving, and angry with us? It is created by the relationship we have had with authorities in our lives.
· Others – Are we able to receive love, correction, and instruction from others? Or do we guard ourselves from others and feel people are negative towards us?
· Ourselves – Do we like ourselves? Do we feel good about who we are? Or do we dislike ourselves and have a negative self image?
· Nature – Are God’s creations places in which we see His glory? Or do we run to the things in the natural world to comfort ourselves and find rest when we can’t find peace or comfort in God?
Bitter root strongholds can become foundational to our very nature and personality and are introduced at early childhood as well as all through our lives. We eventually experience life in our adult years the way we learned to respond in our youth.
Each of us has root structures that cause us to receive negatively from others even when they don’t intend to come across that way. This is one of the main causes for marital and family problems and the whole inability to give or receive love in a healthy manner.
We earlier saw how bitter root judgment operates from the basis of relational laws that we have broken when we dishonored parents or judged another person. When laws of relationships are broken, Satan releases a curse that causes us to reap from what we have sown.
These judgments have helped create our belief system in life. We have begun to believe that life is going to go a certain way. We have also begun to believe that people are going to treat us in a certain way. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We expect life to go in a certain direction and then it usually does.
What our heart believes is true even if it is a lie!
· If you believe you can’t, you can’t.
· If you believe you will fail, eventually you will.
· If you believe you will prosper, eventually you will.
· If you believe people will reject you, eventually they will.
· If you believe people will hurt you, then you tend to draw people to you who will do just that.
· If you believe people will be harsh and critical of you, then you tend to draw people to you who are harsh and critical.
If you believe you have favor with God and with man, then you feel that way and draw blessings from God and man to yourself.
These habitual thoughts build in us like a fortress one thought at a time. Then they become a stronghold of thought, a negative belief structure. What we believe then becomes true, even if it is a lie. These lies can exalt themselves above the truth and our knowledge of the character of God.
We see life through a lens of our unconscious beliefs and expectations. We treat others in ways that tend to draw to us what we believed and expected in the first place. This is called bitter root expectancy.
Our false belief can bring defilement to others
Our beliefs and expectations can actually affect the behavior of others by what is in us if they have a root structure within them to build upon. It is not that we are controlled by others, for we have a free will and are responsible for our own actions. The defilement is coming from the “spiritual vibes” that a person is transmitting who has judgments and expectations against others who have wounded them in the past.
Examples: A woman’s feeling a man operating in a spirit of lust even though they may not make eye contact.
The “vibes” or friction a husband and wife feel between each other when they have unresolved conflict, when tension or strife is in the home or relationship
The “vibes” you fell when someone expects rejection everywhere he or she goes. You can feel that person’s drawing it out of you.
The power of the law in judgments and the defilement from false beliefs and expectancies are so great that resisting their influence can be like trying to stand against a gale. It pushes us one way when we are trying to go the other.
Examples of bitter root expectancy in operation
· A wife whose husband never listens to her or spends time with her may be reaping from her husband what she judged in her father. Her father did not know how to be intimate with her in conversation and spent little time with her. She judged him for this. Her expectation becomes that the man in her life will do the same. Then the husband conforms to that expectancy because of the defilement coming forth from her.
· A wife never had weight problems until she was married for a few years. Then she finds her weight is out of control. The husband may have judged his mother for being overweight. His judgment becomes a defiling expectancy that fuels his wife’s eating and weight problem. He is reaping in his wife what he judged in his mother.
· A man finds, in his adult years, that his employers always honor or promote others but never him, no matter how hard he works. He may have judged a parent for giving more love, favor, or attention to a brother or sister. That judgment became an expectancy or belief that others will be blessed but her won’t. It also leaves him feeling that God will bless others but not him. He has faith to pray for others to be healed but not himself.
· A child may judge a parent for being weak or sickly all the time and never having time for them. Then, as an adult, he or she marries a healthy and vibrant mate. But their expectancy defiles the mate and they find themselves reaping in their spouse one who becomes weak or sickly all the time.
· A child may have judged a parent for the house being dirty and sloppy all the time. As an adult he or she may have married a very neat and meticulous person. Before long the past judgment, which become expectancy, defiles the mate and the spouse becomes sloppy and unmanageable just like the parent.
These patterns of judgment and expectancy are not always that clear and easy to discover. Each of us must ask ourselves, “Is my spouse becoming a better person by being married to me or are they getting worse? Are they taking on patterns of a parent I judged? Am I reaping something through my spouse from which I judged a parental figure in my early years?”
Guilty is usually 100/100. Both partners are usually responsible for the problems occurring in their relationship. Guilt in a family must be shared because most often we are drawing the negative behavior out of our spouse.
To break the power of the root of expectancy, we must come to hate the negative and destructive patterns we see following us. “Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9) Healing is not complete until we see the old habit patterns that brought destruction in our lives turn to a positive anticipation and belief that blessings are coming our way.
Demolishing
5
Strongholds
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 NIV)
“The Cross is God’s balancing stick. If you’re not sure that a certain teaching emphasis is properly balanced, examine it through the lens of the Cross. The Cross is the surest antidote to theological weirdness. It is time to gaze with new wonder at the passion of Christ’s Cross.” (Bob Sorge)
Insanity is to continue doing the same things you have always done but expecting different results. (definition by Alcoholics Anonymous)
There are three requirements for healing
1) You must hurt enough that you have no choice but to change.
2) You must learn enough that you have hope for change.
3) You must receive enough unconditional love that you are motivated towards change.
Two roads the christian may travel for change to occur:
· The Jericho Road – supernatural, miraculous intervention & healing
· The Calvary Road – renewing the mind and the spirit of the mind “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove that what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
“In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
The Calvary Road
The Calvary Road demolishes strongholds by taking off one layer of thought at a time (like layers of an onion). The greatest hindrance to this healing process will be the original sin of PRIDE!
· All desire to be loved;
· all indifference to others’ needs;
· all indifference to other’s feelings;
· all sharp and hasty judgments and utterances;
· all manifestations of temper;
· all touchiness and irritations;
· all feelings of separation and isolation;
· have their root in pride!
· Pride ever seeks itself!
(from the book Humility, by Andrew Murray)
Pride sees the wrongs that others have done but never identifies or empathizes with others hurts, wounds, and weaknesses. Pride usually admits no wrong. Pride hates to take personal responsibility for its own mistakes. Pride justifies its negative attitudes by its rightness.
Pride produces a heart that is hard, that is self-sufficient, and self-dependent. Pride is more interested in being right than doing right. Pride blames God and other people when things go wrong. Pride excuses and justifies its bitterness and resentments.
Pride is the greatest hindrance to bringing down fleshly strongholds.
We are not held accountable or responsible for the wounding that others have brought into our lives. We are held responsible for the way we have reacted to the wounding. It has been our choice to respond in the judgmental ways of pride.
1) We must confess our sins
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
a) Acknowledge the fruit and destructive behavioral patterns as sin.
“So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me.”
(Romans 7:17, 19)
List the negative thought and emotional patterns and see them for what they are. They are your fleshly responses to the wounding. If that characteristic in your life is not like Christ or the fruit of the Spirit, it is sin.
b) Identify the root cause behind the negative behavior as sin.
“…plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind…” (Genesis 1:12)
“…for they transgressed laws…therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty.” (Isaiah 24:5,6)
Ask yourself, “Where did that behavior come from? Who treated me that way? Who hurt me like that? Whom have I judged, thus releasing the curse back into my life?”
c) Confession of sin often needs to involve another person you trust.
“Confess your sins one to another, and pray one for another, so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
“If we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.”
(1 Corinthians 11:31)
The first time we confess our sin, God forgives. But often we need to confess daily in order to cleanse the wound. We do this so that the destructive fruit and negative patterns begin to wither and die.
“Why do I have to tell someone? I Can’t. I feel ashamed!”
“…God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5 - 7)
“Angels who did not keep their domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness…” (Jude 6)
“…to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God…” (Acts 26:18)
We must turn from dark to light or else those dark areas become Satan’s playground. Any hidden sin or undealt-with-areas are darkness and they make us want to hide. If we prefer darkness, we will remain in darkness. We must humble ourselves to deal with it and choose light over darkness.
Darkness may mean these things:
· unconfessed sin
“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to Thee, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’. And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3 - 5)
· broken relationships
“If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…but the one who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 1:7; 2:11)
· walls of self-protection
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves…And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:7-10)
There are three areas of sin to confess:
· secret sin – this is the negative and sinful thoughts we have quite often.
· individual sin – this is sin we commit against another.
· corporate sin – this is sin we commit against a family or group.
We must begin to hate the sin or habit structure but love who we are in Christ. This begins the process of leading you into repentance. “Abhor what is evil, love what is good.” (Romans 12:9)
2) We must embrace a repentant attitude
“Bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8)
a) Repentance always involves action.
It is not just emotions and tears. It is to be so grieved at the wounding and grief our actions and attitudes bring to others and to God that we do whatever it takes to heal their wounded hearts.
“I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this Godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.” (2 Corinthians 7:9 – 11)
Worldly sorrow or remorse
· It is of the flesh and says, “I’m sorry I got caught. I’m sorry I blew it.”
· It doesn’t lead to the Cross and changed behavior.
· It is an emotion of the soul and is only concerned with self.
· It leads to self-hatred and self-condemnation.
· It justifies and blames others, God, or the circumstances.
Godly sorrow or repentance
· It causes us to see the hurt we have inflicted upon others.
· We know that we have grieved the Holy Spirit within us by our actions.
· We are more concerned with other’s needs than our own selves.
· The hurt in the one we wounded begins to grip us.
· We are willing to lay down our pride and the need to be right.
· We come to hate habitual, destructive habit patterns.
· We now will do whatever it takes to heal the heart of the one we hurt.
True Repentance is a change of mind so deep that it begins to change our conduct. It is not complete until the negative behavior changes and we begin to walk in the Spirit in that area of our life.
b) To enter into repentance we must first become RIPE (ready).
“Ripeness” is to stop putting blame on others for causing us to react in such negative ways. It is to stop justifying our behavior and attitudes by focusing the spotlight on someone else or their negative behavior. PEOPLE DON’T CREATE YOUR SPIRIT, THEY REVEAL IT!
When we are disgusted enough with our destructive behavior and see it as our own sin, then we begin to “own” our negative emotions and not blame others for them. Repentance is then close at hand!
c) “The gift (goodness) of God leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4)
To receive this gift, we must have a heart’s desire to enter into fellowship with God. It is in moment-by-moment fellowship that we take on God’s heart and feelings. When the sense of His presence is near, then repentance becomes part of our character. When we get out of focus and too busy with the work of ministry or the world, then a sense of fellowship begins to diminish and remorse replaces repentance. Repentance will become part of our character when we understand and experience “…the fellowship (koinonia – partnership, communion, and intercourse) of the Holy Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
d) Repentance also involves guarding our words.
“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34, 37)
“And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6)
The more we talk about an offense or hurt, the more energy and life we give to the hurt. It cuts off the flow of repentance. We end up stimulating one another with the offense. We must practice a daily discipline of not speaking of the hurt or offense. We must only speak of the offense with one who makes us judge our own motives and attitudes. (1 Corinthians 11:31)
3) We must give and receive forgiveness
“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.” (Mark 11:25, 26)
Forgiveness is not a matter between you and someone else. It is a matter between you and God. You don’t forgive someone for their sake. You forgive them for your own sake so that you can get your identity from God and not from the one who hurt you.
“Forgiveness is agreeing to live with the consequences of another’s sin. Forgiveness is costly. You pay the price of the evil you forgive. You’re going to live with those consequences whether you want to or not; your only choice is whether you will do so in the bitterness of unforgiveness or the freedom of forgiveness.” (Dr. Neil Anderson, Released From Bondage)
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.”
(Luke 23:34)
Jesus spoke a spirit of forgiveness into our being when He said this. There are two things we need to know about this verse:
a) “They know not what they are doing.”
Hurt people hurt people. That is all they know. People give you what has been given to them. Loved people love people. Rejected people reject people. Free people free people. And hurt people hurt others in the same way others have hurt them. They don’t know any better. So Jesus forgave them because He looked at the root cause behind their destructive behavior, their own pain and rejection. He saw them as victims, not abusers. He saw them as wounded little children.
b) “Father, forgive them…”
Jesus had practices forgiving people for the previous three years. But after He took on the sins of the world and He took our stripes and rejection to the Cross, He lost the ability to forgive. So He asked His Father to forgive them through Him.
The key to forgiving the unforgivable lies in acknowledging our unforgiveness, bitterness, and hatred and that we don’t know how to forgive. Confess it as sin. Then ask the Lord to forgive the offender through you. He has given you the free gift of forgiveness. Now give to another what was not yours in the first place.
Forgiveness is two-fold
· We must forgive others for the hurt they have brought to us.
· We must receive God’s forgiveness for judging others, for breaking laws of relationships, and for holding unforgiveness and bitterness towards others.
Forgiveness releases us from getting our identity from our hurts and from those who have hurt us. It releases God’s healing to flow through us. Then the Spirit is released to impart the Father’s personality, character, and feelings in us!
4) We must embrace the purpose behind God’s desire to heal and transform us
“…the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)
These verses tell us that nothing that has occurred to us in life is ever wasted. Healing is not complete until the deserts and wildernesses of our lives are transformed into Satan’s greatest defeats as others come to feed off of the work God has done within us.
“Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and sound of a melody.” (Isaiah 51:3)
Healing takes your greatest shame and then anoints you to minister to others in the very areas you have hurt! It doesn’t do away with your memories but it changes what you do with those memories. It transforms death experiences to life experiences! This is what is meant by “proclaiming the day of vengeance of our God.” (Isaiah 61:2)
“And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)
We must determine that when attacks and hurts come our way, we will seek the Father to come and comfort our wounded hearts. As He brings comfort and healing, then we will use those defeats that became the Lord’s victories to build the kingdom of God in the lives of others! Healing is complete when our destructive behavioral patterns have been transformed to caring for others when they hurt!
The book, The Calvary Road, by Roy Hession, would be an excellent book to help you walk out the process of death to the old and releasing life to the new.
6
The death
Process to
strongholds
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:3, 5)
“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)
“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” (Luke 9:23,24)
Demolishing strongholds is more a process of death than it is warfare or a battle. Change happens when the old destructive strongholds that have been stimulating fleshly behavior are brought to death at the Cross, buried in the tomb, and then brought to new resurrected life in Christ. This process of death and resurrection is much like the experience that Jesus went through going from Gethsemane to Calvary and eventually to a resurrected life. Jesus went to Calvary so that we, too, can bring the fleshly strongholds influencing our life to this place of death and life.
“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Philippians 3:10)
The cup that Jesus drank of is the cup that we must drink from in order to win the greatest victory of all in this life – victory over self! He didn’t go to the Cross so that we do not have to. He went to the Cross so that we may be able to follow Him with this body of death, the flesh, that we dwell in. The process begins:
1) There must be a Gethsemane experienceMatthew 26:36-46
Without it, we will crawl off the Cross before the work is complete. A Gethsemane experience is where we become ripe for change. It is a place of brokenness where we stop blaming people and circumstances for the problems we have in life.
· Here we com to see our own sinfulness.
· Here we break in spirit.
· Here we make a choice for change.
· Here we take total responsibility for our problems.
· Here we realize it is the Father who is drawing us to the Cross.
He doesn’t just want us healed. He wants us dead to self. This may be a time of great inner pain, agony, or humiliation; but it is the only way to the Cross. Here the original root sin of pride is being exposed and dealt with; for as long as it is in control, God can do very little with us.
2) There usually are betrayals, beatings, and accusations
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you have come for.’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.” (Matthew 26:50)
During this process of brokenness, there are those who see the sensitive place you are in and they may seek to take advantage of this season in your life. They may see your journey towards change and begin to accuse you of being “super spiritual” or self-righteous. During this time, our yieldedness to God’s process of brokenness can often be measured by our yieldedness to man. (Romans 15:1) Often God allows the betrayals in order to bring us to the place of brokenness on the Cross. Even Jesus needed Judas in His life to propel Him toward the Cross. Where would we be today without Judas?
When we begin to fight against people instead of receiving them as part of the death process, then we stagnate the process with blame-shifting and resentments. Thus we begin to justify our feelings and actions and miss out on God’s turning the evil into good. (Genesis 50:20)
Brokenness is not a feeling; rather, it is a choice and act of the will. It is to become a lifestyle of agreeing with God about the sinfulness of our lives. Its end result is a life of humility. Humility is a place where we recognize our nothingness in the light of God’s glory and presence.
3) We need someone to help us bear our burden
“And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.” (Luke 23:26)
“Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you, too, be tempted. Bear one another’ burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ…” (Galatians 6:1,2)
Ask the Lord to give you someone who will help you to bear the burden of the Cross and this death process you are going through. You may become so weak that you must have another to lead the way for you. At this point, you can hardly pray for yourself any longer. The agony, the grief, the pain of the wounds and your sinfulness are all you can bear alone. Look for a pastor, counselor, or friend in Christ to help you through this time. (James 5:16 and 1 Corinthians 11:31)
4) At long last we find ourselves on the Cross
“Truly, truly, I say to you [Peter], when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” (John 21:18)
Crucifixion usually comes at the hands of others. Others take us where we ourselves are not willing to go – and that is to death itself! Chris was willing to have no rights of His own. He was willing for mean to revile Him and He not revile in return. He was willing to be crucified by men and not defend Himself. He was broken on Calvary in order to bear others’ sins on the Cross. So, too, must we be broken before we can bear the burdens of others and not become judgmental of their faults and weaknesses.
Oftentimes, the ones who nail us to the Cross are the ones God has chosen to help crucify our uncrucified areas. We must stop fighting the process, the people, and the circumstances that God puts in our way. These may be the very ones who carry us to the place of dying to those old strongholds – which is precisely why we fight so hard against them. We must become like Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” (Job 13:15)
During this time, you may fight daily bitterness, resentments, and anger. Battles may rage inside of you. Weariness may set in and cause you to easily lose your peace and patience. During this time, focus is important.
“The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee.” (Isaiah 26:3)
People will usually keep crawling away from the death process until they come to a place where they cannot stand NOT dying. They begin to realize that there are to many other people’s lives being affected in a negative way by their actions and there is nothing else left but to change.
5) We need a Joseph to carry our body of death to the tomb
“…and Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb…” (Matthew 27:57-60)
As we walk through the process of death to self, we need people who love us unconditionally, who will allow us to change, and who aren’t threatened if we act differently. If we don’t appear to be changing, they still love and accept us just where we are in this death process. These are:
· People who stand by us and carry us, no matter what.
· People who don’t play mind games with us.
· People who are not demanding anything from us.
· People who don’t accuse us and seek to control us.
· People who provide an atmosphere of love, rest, and safety while this death process is being worked through our mind, will, and emotions.
6) We need those who stand guard over this “tomb” of death
“…you have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how. And they went and made the grave secure…” (Matthew 27:64-66)
These are those who see the weariness of the death process we are in yet they “pick up the slack” for us and don’t criticize us.
We are in a time of testing and humiliation at this point, and our weaknesses are apparent to many people, especially those close to us. Many will criticize and pick at our flesh because they see the present emptiness we are feeling and they may believe we have lost the anointing or the presence of God. They don’t understand that, for every death, there is new life that comes forth and produces increased fruitfulness.
“Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” (Matthew 24:28)
This is a dangerous time when many people abort the process. The “tomb”, which has been an incubator of life, now becomes a “coffin of death” if we are not protected. It is a season of pruning. We bore fruit in the past but now it seems there is no fruitfulness in our lives or ministry.
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2)
During this season, stop all introspection and look for nothing else to deal with or to bring to the Cross. Enter into a season of rest and leave the inner man alone, letting this death process become complete.
7) The death process releases a deep inner groan of agony
“…for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)
Jonah must have known great confusion, disorientation, and anxiety while in the stomach of the great fish. You also may find yourself in a state of confusion. As we begin to die to those strongholds that have influenced us, we may experience sadness, anger, confusion, despondency, heaviness, tiredness, or turmoil. Death is being worked deep within us to the old motives and habitual practices. This season can last for hours, days, weeks, or months. Our cry of confusion may become:
· “I don’t know what is happening to me.”
· “I’m tired of all this struggle and battle.”
· “I feel so heavy and drugged.”
· “I’m tried and sleepy all the time”
· “I feel worse than before I started dealing with these strongholds.”
As we come to the Cross in earnest brokenness, we begin to let down many of our old defense and self-protection mechanisms and the mind games that we have played so long. It has been these very things that have been providing the striving energy that has driven us for so many years. We had been riding on our hurts and resentments. What our flesh has given life to has no rest and requires great energy to sustain it. Now that the flesh is being placed on the Cross, fatigue catches up to us. Our focus in this season must become Jesus’ words.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message)
Every stronghold (habit structure) of the flesh was marked by unrest and caused us to continually be striving to comfort our flesh. Our inner battles take our energy and we aren’t able to keep our focus on communion with God. We may experience a tremendous let-down emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It is all part of the process of death, resurrection, and transformation.
“The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God Himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:10, 11 The Message)
8) We enter into the place of sensitivity
“Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…” (John 20:17)
After Jesus cam forth from the tomb of death, He had not yet been resurrected to the Father. He wasn’t yet willing for Mary to take hold Him.
After a season in the tomb, we may need time to settle into this new resurrected life that is being birthed within us. It is a time of developing sensitivity to practicing the presence of God. We should begin entering into this new-found freedom by seeking quiet times of meditation and waiting on God so that we can become more familiar with this new character of His that He is depositing in us. It is in these quiet times that He will strengthen us and confirm the work that is being done within us.
“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)
9) We begin taking on the character of Christ
“But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.” (Luke 24:16)
People may not recognize the new person in you, even as they did not recognize Jesus on the Emmaus road. Those closest to you may still treat you with the old demands and expectations that they had on you in the past. You may begin feeling new, but they haven’t yet learned to trust you. “Is this just a game he is playing to win back our favor? How long will it last this time? I’ll watch and see for a season to see if he has really changed.”
It is similar to when I put a new engine in my old boat. I know it is the same boat, but it doesn’t feel the same as it did before. It takes a while for me to adjust to the new sounds and vibrations and to become familiar with its control and speed.
“And He broke bread with His disciples and they knew Him.” (Luke 24:35)
It was in a time of intimacy (in-to-me-see), fellowship, and communion that the disciples finally recognized the new Christ. As we lay aside the old “news, sports, and weather” mind games and become transparent, allowing people to see us as we truly are, then people will begin to build trust in the new us.
Relationships that were strained before may begin to be restored and strengthened. Those whom your old fleshly patterns had wounded may begin to forgive and release you and you begin to see a new love and unity develop between you.
10) We enter into the resurrected and transformed life
Luke 24:36-40; John 20:19-29
Here we see that Jesus has come forth in full resurrected life as He appears before His disciples. He still carries the scars of His wounds but no longer does He carry the pain when they are touched by someone.
This is the place on our journey that makes all the agony of spirit worthwhile. We have made peace with our past. No longer do we respond with hurt, pain, and anger when another person touches the woundedness of our past. The scars are there, yes. The memories remain, yes. But in place of hurt and sorrow there is now thanksgiving and gratitude for what the Lord has done. Our mind is now opened to a new realm of understanding and embracing of the character of Christ and who we are in Him. We enter into a new realm of rest and peace as we walk in our new-found identity in Christ.
“Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45)
11) A change in relationships and authority may occur
Luke 24:46-49; Mark 16:14-20
Jesus went home to the Father, but He left His Spirit within the disciples and a command to go forth giving life and healing to other. The new life that replaces the old strongholds is now empowering and anointing you to minister to others from the very areas that held you captive in the past. Your greatest shames now become your greatest victories and Satan’s defeats as you begin leading others to the way of the Cross.
FINAL THOUGHTS
“I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate, and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land” (Exodus 23:29,30)
Remember, if you fight battles long enough, sooner or later you will lose. You can’t fight the battle over strongholds by yourself and win. You must surrender your life to the work of the Cross; then the Lord takes up the fight and defeats the strongholds through you. This can best be seen in Exodus 23:20-33.
The completion of this whole process is totally dependent upon faith! If the process is rushed, we may climb off the Cross or out of the tomb over and over again before it is complete. The secret to this new life is found in dying to self so that Christ may freely live His life through us. Those who are looking to be free so they can continue living in a self-centered world will never be free. Escaping from our problems is not the answer.
“Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:33)
“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin… Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:4-7,11)
MY UTMOST GRATITUDE
Thanks and appreciation must be given to the ministries of John and Paula Sandford, Carroll Thompson, Dr. Neil Anderson, Francis Frangipane, Francis McNutt, Roy Hession, Andrew Murray, and others. They have helped me to understand and to enter into this road to Calvary that each of us must journey on as we walk out our healing and the renewing of our mind.
Additional Information
IT’S THEIR FAULT
THE WHOLE EXERCISE OF BLAME AND RESENTMENT IS A WASTE OF TIME, AND ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING. NO MATTER HOW MUCH FAULT YOU FIND IN ANOTHER PERSON, NOR THE AMOUNT OF BLAME WITH WHICH YOU CHARGE HIM, IT IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE YOU.
THE ONLY THING YOU ACCOMPLISH IN SUCH AN EXERCISE IS TO KEEP THE SPOTLIGHT OFF OF YOU. LOOKING FOR AN EXTERNAL REASON FOR WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE OF YOU IS TO MISS THE POINT. YOU MAY SUCCEED IN MAKING SOMEONE ELSE FEEL GUILTY, TRUE; AND YOU MAY DISCHARGE A LOT OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS, TRUE; BUT YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED IN CHANGING WHATEVER IT IS ABOUT YOUR INNATE DISPOSITION THAT IS MAKING YOU UNHAPPY.
THE POWER TO CHOOSE
God gave each of us a precious gift that not even angels possess. He gave us the POWER OF CHOICE! We must use this power wisely.
CHOOSE LIFE RATHER THAN DEATH
CHOOSE TO LOVE RATHER THAN TO HATE
CHOOSE TO FORGIVE RATHER THAN UNFORGIVENESS
CHOOSE TO HEAL RATHER THAN TO WOUND
CHOOSE TO GIVE RATHER THAN TO TAKE
CHOOSE TO CREATE LIFE RATHER THAN DESTROY IT
CHOOSE TO LIVE ON THE CROSS RATHER THAN TO WALK IN THE FLESH!
CHOOSE TO CHANGE RATHER THAN TO REMAIN THE WAY YOU ARE!
(by Og Mandino)
Luke 6:35-38
LAW
GRACE
WHAT IS RIGHT & FAIR
AN UNDESERVED GIFT
SATAN TRAFFICS IN LAW
GOD TRAFFICS IN GRACE
SATAN IS THE PROSECUTOR
JESUS IS OUR ADVOCATE
SATAN IS NEGATIVE
GOD IS POSITIVE
THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN
THE HOLY SPIRIT-THE COMFORTER
THE ACCUSER ACCUSES
THE COMFORTER COMFORTS
GAL. 6:7, 8
EPH. 4:26,27 GAL 5:19-21
EPH. 4:29-32 GAL 5:22,23
IF YOU SOW JUDGMENT…
IF YOU SOW GRACE…
ACCUSATORY THOUGHTS & WORDS
EDIFYING THOUGHTS & WORDS
CRITICISM
ENCOURAGEMENT
FAULT FINDING/BLAMING OTHERS
SEEING OWN FAULT FIRST
DEMANDS RIGHTS
YEILDS RIGHTS
DEMANDS JUSTICE
PRONOUNCES INNOCENCE
REHEARSES WOUNDS
RELEASES WOUNDS
UNFORGIVENESS & BITTERNESS
FORGIVENESS & LOVE
REJECTS & DEVALUES OTHERS
ACCEPTS & VALUES OTHERS
…YOU REAP THE LAW
AND RELEASE A SELF-
IMPOSED CURSE
PS 109:17-19, 29 MAT 5:22
…YOU REAP GRACE
AND RELEASE
GOD’S BLESSING
1 PET 3:9-13 MAT 5:11, 12
RESENTMENT & BITTERNESS
INNOCENCE RESTORED
HARDNESS & ANGER
GENTLENESS & MEEKNESS
WALLS – HEART OF STONE
TRANSPARENCY / OPENNESS
UNFORGIVING RELATIONSHIPS
FORGIVING RELATIONSHIPS
PRIDE
HUMILITY
BONDAGE
LIBERTY
ANXIETY / STRESS RELATED DISEASE
REST / PEACE / DIVINE HEALTH
WOUNDED / SHATTERED LIFE
HEALING / WHOLENESS
THERE IS NO LOVE IN LAW
ROM 7:5
“MERCY TRIUMPHS OVER
JUDGEMENT” JAMES 2:13