I Want Freedom #2

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

You need to be active and analyze your enemy so that you can be certain that you will win! You need to first attack the enemy then resist the enemy. You do this with the WORD of God.
1- The enemy is a liar so you have to walk in the TRUTH so you can resist the devil. JESUS is the way the truth and Life.
2- We need to walk in justice and righteousness because are we living in a destroyed world.
3- We need to walk with good news which is the word of God.
4-You need the helmet of salvation, it protects your thoughts and when you fall you will get back up.
5- Prayer makes the enemy run away
The condition of your heart determines your relationship with God.

Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to
prayer—who TRUST beyond HOPE when all means have failed.

When a person has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.

*Times like these are when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”

*Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind:
* “Prayer failed.
* Faith failed.
* Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore.
* It doesn’t pay!”
**Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind.
These have been the devices of Satan for centuries.

To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was ALL part of my plan. It was NO accident. It was NO failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”
**Only God’s Love is powerful enough
to illuminate the darkness in our hearts.
“For God…is the One who has shonein our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Christ.”  II Corinthians 4:6

When we came into and became a part of the Kingdom of God, we were given spiritual territory to maintain and rule over.
We were given authority over the devil and the power to overcome temptation and to rule over your own flesh.
We have been appointed as watchmen to stay alert and be aware of any intrusion into our environment.
Now WE must re-establish ourselves in our authority by way of faith, and evaluate the condition of our spiritual atmosphere, and then go to work to make it a CLEAN habitation for the Lord’s  presence.

Ephesians 2:19-22   Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God……

James 4  outlines for us the process of recovery:
1. Give yourself to God; stand against the devil, and he will flee from you.(Return to the center of sanity; make Jesus your center, your point of grounding. Stand grounded in your faith against evil, the past, and broken habits and you will find healing and help!)

2.Come near to God, and God will come near to you.  (Make a decision to turn your life over to the care of God, knowing He will not fail you.)

3. Sinners, clean/wipe sin out of your lives(broken habits).  Take an inventory of who you are alone, your faults, and seek to make changes as God gives you strength, ridding yourself of the bondage to the past, evil, bad habits.

4. Make yourself pure and cast off double-thinking, trying to follow God and be friends with the world too!

5. Be sad, cry and weep! Change your laughter into crying and your joy into sadness.(Complete the cycles of Grief and be Healed!)

6.Humble yourself in the Lord’s presence, and He will honor you.(Know your value; be honest with God about your faults; He loves you anyways!)

It is so clear and concise here. These are the steps necessary for recovery from addiction, from co-addiction, from childhood abuse, lack of parents/step-parents love and trauma, from life in a sin-filled world.
Satan and demons are real.
*They come to create problems.
* They want to make you believe that God is not real, that God doesn’t care. **Demons inhabit people, not places. The purpose of demonic activity is to cause problems for you; to BREAK your relationship with God.

****Whenever we sin, we give God permission to unleash the enemy into our souls to deal with that sin.

As Christian believers we must make sure that our practices are righteous in God’s sight. If not, we can expect the enemy to be released to judge that sin.

The thing that scares the devil more than any other thing in the world is the TRUTH because against TRUTH he is rendered powerless!

We also have to remember that Satan is not your only enemy. There are three spiritual systems:
1. Satan and his demons
2. The world we live in
3. Your own flesh.
***Sin is not simply breaking the law; its opening a door. We need our Savior. *When we engage in things that God doesn’t want us to, we are inviting Satan in.

1JN 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God,…

Praise God we Fight FROM VICTORY(the work on the Cross) not FOR VICTORY. Choose the FREEDOM IN CHRIST!

Lord Direct my steps by Your word, and let no Sin have dominion over me.
Lord, make me pure and cast off double-thinking, trying to follow YOU and be friends with the world too!
Dear Lord, thank You for being the God who is near. When my tight places press in on me, Your presence is what I need. Thank You for offering me relief no matter what my circumstances. Help me remember to call on You in my temptations.
Lord, help me Humble myself in Your presence, and I know you will honor that because we are your masterpieces and You love us unconditionally! Thank you!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
*Jesus is above all principalities, powers, then, today, and forever.
*Verses  to help in warefare:
Romans 8:37, Ephesians 1:1, Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 2:15, 1JN 4:4.