Philosophy in Christianity

Philosophy in Christianity

In a recent conversation, a Christian friend came back from a college philosophy class a bit puzzled and questioning some issues of faith.

“Aaron, I’ve read the bible through, and yet I find some of what is quoted in the bible is nearly VERBATIM what some “pre-Christ” philosophers expressed in their writings…This has me a bit thrown and put off as I am questioning some aspects of faith as a result…”

I will say right up front, I’m not a Christian “Apologist”.  Actually, in most cases, I refuse to debate Christianity with people because most of the time they are just looking for an argument, and I LIKE TO WIN too much!  I’ve realized over the years that one of my greatest pitfalls is Pride and I would argue in the name of “debate” to prove that I was right, they were wrong, and then sit back and bask in the glory of the “win” feeling so proud of myself and how smart I am and “how I really made that guy look stupid for picking a fight with me”… and it hit me… At what cost…?  I’m not better for it, in their eyes i’m the jerk who made them look stupid and they are no closer to seeing things from my point of view because we both believe that our perspective is right and neither of us was intent on changing anyone’s perspective, but simply proving that we could win… TDFS! (Thumbs down, fart sound) So, anyone reading this that wants to pick a fight and debate… don’t waste your time… I won’t respond… This is just me weighing what seems very logical to me…

Back to the Philosophy…

Any time you read ANYTHING in literature, you have to consider a few things… Who wrote it, when was it written, who were they writing to and are there any examples, idioms, phrases, or figures of speech that would be understood by the audience that may not translate directly to us reading it today?

I think that analyzing the bible from that perspective  may be a possible explanation for my friend’s faith quandary and I wanted to share it briefly with you today for the sake of personal consideration in the event that you are ever posed the same question.

There are likely 40 different people who helped pen the words written in the bible.  So the first question “Who wrote it” can be a very lengthy description.  Suffice to say, most of the writers were learned men of their day.  In the new testament, Luke was a Doctor and Paul was among the most elite scholars in his society as a Pharisee who was also the son of a Pharisee- an EXTREMELY educated sect.

Much of what my friend questioned was taken from the New Testament, which covers “when it was written” and of course if you have studied the bible, you know most of the books of the new testament are named after “who it was written to” (so we have those bases covered).

So the next step in the analysis is, are there any examples, idioms, phrases, or figures of speech that would be understood by the audience that may not translate directly to us reading it today?

I feel like this answer is a logical thought to process considering the question he raised to me about these philosophical quotes in the bible.   Rome was a SUPER POWER in this day and occupied most of the known world in the time of Christ.  Libraries were built throughout much of the Roman empire and the teachings of the esteemed Greek and Roman philosophers would likely be as commonly taught then as they are now (if not more).

If we look at the bible through the lens of who it is written to and the time it was written, one could logically deduce that it would be no more uncommon for an educated individual to quote something that would be commonly understood by the people he was writing to for the sake of making an intended point as it would for a pastor today to make an intended parallel by quoting a famous speech or author , “I have a dream”,  “Four score and seven years ago”, “Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ear…”, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”, etc… Or perhaps quoting a famous song by a musical legend, “I did it my way”, “Let it be, let it be…”, “We are the champions…”, or the one I’ve heard far too many baby boomer pastors quote still 20 years later- “U Can’t touch this…”

The point is, I think it actually makes sense to quote the respected philosopher in that day if you are intending to gain the respect and acceptance of the audience who would understand the intended parallel and may not have been educated in your (the authors) Hebrew culture.

Recognizing that most of the world would have been educated in Roman culture and much of the new testament was written to individuals in those Roman provinces, by people who were raised under Roman rule and occupied by Rome.  I don’t believe that it cheapens or brings into question the validity of what was written, but maybe the opposite, making what was written MORE relevant to those of that day and even to todays student of history  that would like to understand the relevance of the bible from a historical perspective… I think understanding the relevance “then”, actually makes it logically more relevant today if we understand the intent of the author (and possibly even the educational level) of the one making the parallel when he wrote it.

Those are just my thoughts… I just wonder…Is it possible…?

Disgrace -vs- Grace

Chapter 21- Disgrace –vs- Grace

(this is a rough draft chapter from my latest book)

Romans 5:20-21

The Message (MSG)

 ^20-21All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

 

I am what could be defined as a Grace Teacher and the subject of Gods grace is a significant aspect of the passion of ministry that I burn for.  I firmly believe that the grace of God covers all of our sin and makes us righteous in His sight no matter who we’ve been or what we’ve done!  Furthermore, I am convinced that the sacrifice that Christ made for our sin not only covers everything that we have done in the past but will also cover anything we might do in the future!  I believe, just as was explained in the last chapter, that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus not because of anything that we have done but only because of what Christ did for us.  And on this subject I will not bend no matter what religious leaders, denominational doctrines or legalisms might argue!  BUT… I believe that this freedom in Christ where we experience the grace of God (Gods unmerited favor) and walk in His righteousness comes with a responsibility on our part to properly steward our lives as we live under it!

I have seen a significant lack of balance in what some are teaching under the Grace doctrine umbrella and it bothers me.  What I have noticed is that there is a growing philosophy that Christians can do what they want (sin or not) under the covering of grace and it’s ok with God because we are not made righteous in our own deeds but because of Christ.  I believe that this teaching is an intentional attempt by the devil to deceive people into believing a lie and embracing a doctrine that will reap destruction and death in their lives!

2 Timothy 4:3-4

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold,

    ⁴And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.

 

A few years ago, I had a young man contact me online who adopted this disgraceful stance on grace.  He assumed that I, because grace is a subject that I am passionate about, would also be in league with his unbalanced thinking and in agreement with the willful and blatantly overt stance that he took in flaunting the sin he was committing.  And, to his surprise, he was wrong.  I could not and would not condone his sin and when he asked me what I thought, I had to set him straight on the fact that I believed that he had bought into a lie about who he was in Christ.

2 Timothy 4:1-2

Amplified Bible (AMP)

 ¹I CHARGE [you] in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by (in the light of) His coming and His kingdom:

    ²Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.

I’d like to point out that the key point in these scriptures above in being a pastor who can effectively speak into the lives of people is the final sentence in verse 2, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching. 

So many might read that passage of scripture and assume that they have not only a right but an obligation to show people where their lives our out of balance with the Word of God, and although I would agree to an extent, if it is not done with an inexhaustible patience and teaching IN LOVE, the results, most often will be fruitless…Sadly, many would miss the entire point of this scripture because they are not really interested in what is the intended tone of this message and ultimately the heart of God- reconciliation and restoration.

When the young man online realized that I was not in his bandwagon as a supporter he assumed that I was judging him, which could not be further from the truth.  The truth of the matter is that the Word of God is clear in regard to how we should handle sin in our lives and the responsibility of taking dominion over the devil and sin is left in our lap.  From a biblical perspective, we have been given the victory and authority over sin but having the authority and exercising the authority are two completely different things.

I’m simply not convinced that grace includes continuing to live a life in bondage and addiction to sin.  Simply put, Christ freed us from that bondage!  To remain enslaved to sins destructive desires is to operate far beneath our intended position by God.  Furthermore, I believe that willfully operating in bondage to sin, ultimately will keep us from fulfilling that destiny in the capacity that we were placed here by God to fulfill because the wages of sin is still death… Jesus, when tempted by the devil didn’t make excuse for sin and the temptation that He encountered, He exercised His dominion over it and so should we!  The freedom that Christ purchased came at too great a price for us to not walk in the fullness of it!

1 Corinthians 6:12, 17-20, 23

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹²Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power…

¹⁷But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

¹⁸Shun immorality and all sexual looseness [flee from impurity in thought, word, or deed]. Any other sin which a man commits is one outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

    ¹⁹Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,

    ²⁰You were bought with a price [purchased with a ^[a]preciousness and paid for, ^[b]made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body…

 ²³For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

At the very least, because we reap what we sow, bondage to sin holds us back from living in the fullness of freedom!  Even though Christ has died for the forgiveness of our sins, to continue walking in the bondage of sin when freedom is available is settling for far less than God intends for us!

I would equate sin attached to our lives slowing us down and impeding our progress to barnacles on a ship in the ocean.  The hull of a ship is created to cut through the water like a knife with as little resistance as possible so that the ship can travel quickly and efficiently to its destination.  When barnacles attach to the bottom of the ship, they look sometimes like large rocks or boulders and they create drag because they interrupt the lines of the ship so that the are no longer uniform and as a result, slow the ship down by effecting its hydrodynamics.

This is exactly what sin does in our lives, apart from setting us up for death (because the wages of sin is death), sin keeps us from being all that God intends for us to be!

Matthew 6:24

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁴No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be ^[a]against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (^[b]deceitful riches, money, possessions, or ^[c]whatever is trusted in).

Matthew 6 addresses the subject of serving two masters, but another chapter in the bible also addresses the subject of masters.  In Romans chapter 6, the apostle Paul writes about sin being our master as well.

Romans 6:12-14

New International Version (NIV)

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

I think that there is so much that can be derived from these 3 scriptures but I believe a key emphasis relates to us, as children of God, taking responsibility for our lives and not allowing sin to rule over us!  According to Romans 6:14, it is because we are under the grace of God that we do not have to allow sin to be our master, NOT that we are to be tolerant of it in our lives as so many have proposed!

I believe without a shadow of a doubt that Gods grace was designed to cover us IF we sin, but I do not believe it is was ever intended to be an excuse for us to tolerate sin or live with it!  Sin is a choice that most of the time is completely avoidable depending upon the environments we place ourselves in.  It is a given that, sometimes things blindside us and we may respond emotionally or in a flesh driven response and as a result we may sin, but I believe that these can be the exceptions and not the rule for us as a believer.

You are more than you have become

Galatians 5:16

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁶But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).

I realize that there may be times where sin happens and in those occasions, Gods grace, without a doubt abounds!  But I believe more firmly in the inheritance that we have in our covenant with Christ as He lives in and through us, than I do in sins ability to dominate us!  I’m convinced that it is in the fullness of Gods grace that we can live victoriously over sin and do not have to be subject to it.

I realize that this is contrary to what many will teach.  Many pastors will take the position, that sin is inevitable in our lives, as if we are predisposed to it and don’t really have any control over it… I simply disagree with that theology and I think that, most of the time, it is a bit of a cop out.

It is true that sin will always be in the earth.  It is also very true that as long as we are in this world, temptation to sin will have to be something that we contend with.  But I take the stance that all of the works of the Devil, including temptation to sin is covered in my covenant with God through Christ and as a result it is ALL under my feet!  Because of this, I am convinced that I DON’T HAVE TO SIN, contrary to what I was inaccurately taught growing up!

I’m not saying that we have to live by a bunch of rules or legalisms or that we need to beat ourselves up if/when we sin…I’m just stating that sin is not part of my inheritance in Christ and I CAN live above it if I choose to walk out my life controlled by and submitted to the Spirit of God!

Now to be fair, is sin likely to be something that I never do again…?  Probably not likely, but if I take the approach in my mind that sin is subject to me as opposed to what has often been taught in that I am simply subject to sin, then my likelihood to excuse sin as part of my predisposition rather than my responsibility to walk above will be much less.

If you tell someone that sin is an inevitable aspect of their existence then they will always feel helpless in overcoming it.  But if you teach them who they are in Christ and the authority that they have over sin and then show them that they can walk in freedom from sin according to the Word of God, at that point you have exampled liberty and given them the necessary tools to defeat darkness in their lives!

If you tell your children not to have sex and then give them condoms…what message are you really sending?

Satan has convinced us that we are not above his influence in our lives as it pertains to sin, and that is simply not biblical!  I believe that this is one of the most significant deceptions that the devil has solidified in the minds and hearts of the believer because it is so easy to take the If I can’t beat em’, join em’ stance if you believe that you have no choice in the matter!

I cannot tell you the numbers of people who contact me after coming to understand that, in Christ, they are new creations and are predisposed to righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit rather than sin…and as a result, they do not have to sin!   Many have told me that they have never been taught who they really are in Christ before and just simply took a stance that they might as well enjoy sin if they couldn’t beat it!  And I understand where they are coming from because, I was in the same boat until I began to study this topic in depth and saw the multitudes of scriptures throughout the Word of God that contradicted what I had been taught about this subject!

When I realized that I did not have to sin anymore, my mindsets changed about who I was and what level of involvement I had in the decision-making aspect of the sin process.  In looking back at it now, most of the sins I have committed over the years were not only my choice, but a great majority of them were heavily premeditated!  I realized, at least in my own life, I didn’t fall into sin, I stepped into it…and those were NOT the same!

If my free will allows me to choose to step into it, then, by default, it also allows me to not step into it if I so choose.  But here’s where grace steps into that scenario, without Christ, I would be powerless to choose to live in opposition against Satan and his devices, but I have the trump card that changes everything as it pertains to the power of the devil, and that is that the God who created the universe lives in me!  I am literally the temple of the Holy Spirit and I can choose to honor God with my life choices!  It’s not in my power that I can walk in complete victory over Satan but through Christ that I can do all things!

Philippians 4:13

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹³I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who ^[a]infuses inner strength into me; I am ^[b]self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

Some may argue, Everybody sins Aaron, the bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of what God would have for them… and to an extent, I agree.  Undeniably, we have all made mistakes and sinned against God!  That’s why grace is such a gift and so necessary for our lives…BUT, my argument is, I don’t believe that we have to continue sinning just because we always have.  It is easier to adopt the predisposition sin position, but I’m convinced that our covenant relationship with God provides us with MORE than what we have experienced in the past!  I believe that my God is the God of MORE THAN ENOUGH as it pertains to overcoming ANYTHING that the devil my throw my way!

Just because I haven’t always walked in that authority or refuse tomorrow to do so doesn’t mean it’s not available to me!  On the contrary, whether or not ANYONE EVER walks in the fullness of what I am addressing here does not solidify or negate the truth of it!  The truth of Gods Word is truth if NO ONE ever chooses to walk in the fullness of it!  And the Grace of God abounds in spite of them!  If we choose to sin, Grace abounds, if we walk in freedom, Grace abounds!  I just believe that God created us for MORE than we have become and I’m equally convinced that a significant aspect of why we have not reached the potential that we could have or should have is because we are not fully operating in the authority that we were created to walk in over ALL the devices of the devil…not the least of which is…SIN.

1 Corinthians 10:13-15

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹³For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not^[a]adjusted and ^[b]adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to ^[c]a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

    ¹⁴Therefore, my dearly beloved, shun (keep clear away from, avoid by flight if need be) any sort of idolatry (of loving or venerating anything more than God).

    ¹⁵I am speaking as to intelligent (sensible) men. Think over and make up your minds [for yourselves] about what I say. [I appeal to your reason and your discernment in these matters.]

As I consider the unbalanced grace doctrines that I have seen so many embrace and preach excusing sin in their lives and assuming because they are saved that God somehow doesn’t care that they continue living lives bound by sin, I felt it absolutely necessary to set the record straight, at least for those of you who are under my sphere of influence and reading this book right now.

I believe that the Grace of God has been disgraced by those who have intentionally used it to be a greencard for sin…and that was never Gods intent when He extended His grace toward us!  The grace of God can and will cover all of our sin but just because it does, does not give us a green light to do what we want and assume that God is cool with it!  As a matter of fact this disgraced grace mentality is far removed from the completed work of freedom that Christ established for us when He overcame all the works of the devil on the cross! What has been adopted in this dis-grace doctrine is literally a perversion of something that God intended to be so much more liberating and life-changing!  We are NOT slaves to sin anymore!

What God intended for us as it pertains to sin in our lives is abundantly clear throughout scripture and is very adequately conveyed in Romans Chapter 6.

Romans 6:5-14

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁵For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God].

    ⁶We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.

    ⁷For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin [among men].

    ⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

    ⁹Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.

    ¹⁰For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].

    ¹¹Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

    ¹²Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions.

    ¹³Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members [and ^[a]faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of wickedness. But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members [and ^[b]faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness.

    ¹⁴For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God's favor and mercy].

Verses 12 and 13 say, LET NOT SIN RULE, DO NOT CONTINUE YEILDING!  These are yet another call to action from the Word of God compelling us to live above Satan’s dictate!  What I am referring to here is not anti-grace or somehow making it about our righteousness, but rather the FULLNESS of the grace of God and His righteousness extended toward us as we walk above sin in the authority that Christ provided for us!

In His unmerited favor (grace) God provided coverage for any aspect of sins bondage in our lives: Our previous sins-COVERED by grace, our future sins-COVERED by grace, our predisposition to sin and a sinful nature-COVERED by grace!  Sin in every form and bondage is covered by the grace of God and we are no longer slaves to its authority!

Real, God ordained grace, does not give us permission to sin, but rather it gives us permission to NOT sin by the authority of God and the strength of His Holy Spirit residing in us!

Romans 6:15-23

The Message (MSG)

What Is True Freedom?

 ^15-18So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!

 ¹⁹I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?

 ^20-21As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

 ^22-23But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.

As is his nature, the devil will always try to steal, kill and destroy but you do not have to be a willing participant in his attempted destruction of your life!  YOU DON’T HAVE TO SIN!

Romans 8:37

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³⁷Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors ^[a]and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.

God accepts you just as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way… Today is a new day, choose to walk in the fullness of who He created you to be!  As it pertains to the authority you have and the authority you are exercising, you ARE more than you have become!

Living Free…

I haven’t been posting all of the chapters from the book in this blog, but this is an essential follow up chapter to chapter 13 (freedom) that was posted previously so I am posting this rough draft chapter for those of you who are my “faithful readers” and may benefit from the continuation of the teaching…

Chapter 14- Living Free!

John 8:34-36

The Message (MSG)

 ^34-36Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through…

 

 

After repenting of sin, renouncing the strongholds in our lives and experiencing our first tastes of freedom, there is a tendency to let our guard down in the arena of temptation and sin.  We hear the truths from God’s Word, like the scripture above stating that we are free through and through and even emotionally we feel so different, in that time it is easy to assume that those days of warring against those strongholds are over… But I want to caution you in this area of thinking because there is still a battle and there is still an enemy that we have to fight against!

So often I have spoken with people who are attempting to walk out their relationship with Christ, many for the first time, and when they come to this understanding of freedom that they can experience from the strongholds and sin that they have warred against their entire lives there is an excitement!  Emotionally, the realization of having freedom in an area that has been such a burden for them for so long is absolutely liberating! And rightfully so!

Although I do not want to discourage the excitement and anticipation of continued breakthrough in your life, I also have to warn you that when the emotion fades and reality sets in, the devil will be waiting for an opportunity to try to slap those chains of bondage back on you!  It may not be today or tomorrow, but it will absolutely happen at some point and you need to be ready both mentally and spiritually for it when it happens.  Failure to prepare yourself for the attack will likely result in significant disappointment and feelings of failure if you are not expecting the attack and prepared for it.

As we stated in previous chapters, we are in a battle and our enemy is not a physical enemy but a spiritual enemy.

Ephesians 6:12

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹²For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

 

Recognizing that Satan had a plan to destroy your life from very early on and that he obviously had a reason for placing those strongholds in your life at a young age, it would be safe to assume that he had a reason for doing what he was doing.  The devil does not want for you to reach your God ordained destiny!  He wants you to go through life and never reach your fullest potential because as long as you are deceived into believing that you are less than God created you be, then, you are no threat to Satan and he is free to operate unrestricted in authority in this realm and in your life.  The problems arise for Satan when those he has deceived, come to the knowledge of truth that they do not have to be bound any longer!  When this happens, Satan loses his authority to operate and cannot fulfill his hate filled desires to destroy man and rob them of their destiny!

Many people do not really think about this, but we were created in the image of God, and Satan HATES God!  We are a constant reminder of everything that he is not and never can be!  We represent the authority that stripped him of his every selfish desire to be greater than God!  So, he accomplishes several purposes when he attacks man.  He hurts God because God loves us, he fulfills his own depraved desires to destroy and pervert that which God created to be good and he fulfills the pride that got him kicked out of heaven to begin with when men surrender their will to Satans desires for their lives instead of Gods.

With that understanding, you must know that the devil is not done trying to own you!  For years he has occupied a thrown in your life through the strongholds that you submitted to and he will not be content to simply give up the ground that he gained over you during your lifetime.  He’ll be back…and when he comes, you need to be ready!

1 Peter 5:8

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁸Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [^[a]in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

The authority that the devil had in our lives through sin and strongholds was surrendered to him by our choices.  And although you have taken a stand and renounced his authority in your life, your choices can open the doors once again to allow him access to reestablish the strongholds that you just overcame!  1 Peter 5:8 (above) was talking to CHRISTIANS warning us as Christians that we need to be vigilant and cautious because the devil is looking for an opportunity to destroy us!

It will not likely be very long after experiencing a victory over Satan that he will come back and try to take back what was previously his.  He uses all kinds of tactics, all are deceptive, but one I have seen time and time again.  The devil comes in confronting what you experienced with doubt.  He tries to get you to question the truth that you just encountered posing questions like, Did you REALLY get free or is this just emotional?  He’ll say things like, You’re never going to be able to make it, you are a failure and always have been! etc…

What the devil is attempting to do is uproot the faith that you have placed in the truth of God’s Word so that you do not have anything to stand on for your victory!  He knows if he can deceive you into believing that you have not experienced real breakthrough, then you are likely to simply go back to the stronghold that once ruled your life.  What you have to realize is this, Satan is a liar!  He can’t tell the truth and when he attempts to twist the truth to deceive us into believing a lie he is doing it with an ulterior motive!  Below is a scripture reference that further substantiates my position.  Here Jesus is describing Satan’s nature by confronting those who are bound by his strongholds.

John 8:44

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁴⁴You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.

 

In Matthew Chapter 13 Jesus actually addresses the very thing that I am talking about in this chapter as it pertains to Satan coming against us and attempting to uproot the truth that we have come to understand in an attempt to reestablish the strongholds in our lives.

Matthew 13:3-8 & 18-23

The Message (MSG)

Matthew 13

A Harvest Story

 ^1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

 ^3-8“What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

 

The Meaning of the Harvest Story

 ^18-19“Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

 ^20-21“The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

 ²²“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

 ²³“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”

Each person reading this book are the person Jesus was talking about in verse 23.  You are the ones who have heard the truth and are applying what you have learned to your life so that it can produce a harvest in your life beyond your wildest dreams.  But you will need to be aware that you are not beyond the devils attempts to deceive you into believing a lie. You can overcome him EVERY TIME but he will try to find a way back into your life!

What he wants for you to do is to reopen the door to him through your choices.  What I have noticed is that the devil will almost never throw a huge temptation your way initially.  Most of the time he will attempt to deceive you into making small compromises.  If you previously struggled with a stronghold, he will likely tempt you with sins that you perceive to be not as bad but lead you back to the bondage that you obtained freedom from.

I was speaking with woman named Gina who used to be a meth addict.  She came to me asking about smoking marijuana.  Gina said, I don’t have any desire to shoot up or smoke crack or do meth anymore, but recently I have been smoking a little pot just to relax at night… Based upon her experiences, she did not view smoking weed as a stronghold because she was never really addicted to smoking weed.  As a result, it seemed acceptable to her.

I asked Gina to think back on her life, before she was ever an addict, before she was ever involved in the sex industry, before her life spiraled out of control by her own admission.  Then I asked her, what was the first drug you used to get high?  She smiled at me and said, Marijuana… I then asked her, Did you ever planned on being an addict when you smoked that first joint?  She said, No… Then I asked her, If it had been meth or cocaine that was offered to you all those years ago instead of marijuana would you have taken it…? Again she responded, No…

I went on to explain to Gina how what she perceived to be a small compromise many years ago in smoking marijuana was the catalyst for her addiction and the horrible decisions that accompanied that addiction years later.  I then asked her, Why are you willing to take a detour from Gods destiny for your life through the neighborhood of your past weaknesses?

 

I pose that same question to you today… When the Devil attempts to tempt you with sins that seem trivial in comparison to what you used to do, take a moment and realize that you didn’t get to that point of bondage overnight and the way you ended up there last time was by making one small compromise at a time.

It’s in what we perceive to be little compromises that our lives become bound by sin and strongholds. How many of you have ever looked back on your life and said, How in the world did I get so messed up?! The reason for that feeling of shock is because it didn’t happen overnight and the small compromises didn’t appear to have much consequence attached to them until they set you up for the fall that the devil had been orchestrating for years!  Then, when you least expected it and likely in a moment of weakness, BOOM you are looking around at destruction and feel completely overwhelmed and dumbfounded as to how you ended up there…

The devil doesn’t care if it takes a year or ten years to get you back into bondage as long as your are progressing toward your destruction.  He has a plan and when you are blindly allowing yourself to submit to the small compromises, you are being deceived and manipulated like a pawn toward his big destruction for your life…One small move at a time!

This is why you have to be diligent and determined to not fall back into the devils trap for your life!  I have a saying that I use frequently when I counsel with people, Do what is right because it is right…  So many times I see people looking for a loophole to justify sin.  They are attempting to find a reason that it will be ok for them to compromise a little and they excuse it because they feel like they are doing so much better than they did before.

What you absolutely have to realize is this, sin is sin.  Big or small, the bible says that the wages of sin is death!

James 4:17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁷So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.

You’ve already spent enough time Doing Time or living life in bondage to sin and strongholds!  Don’t get free and then let your guard down assuming that you won’t go back to that bondage.  You’ve already proven to yourself that you are capable and even in some cases, predisposed to being bound by those strongholds so it is necessary at this point, once you have repented of the sin and renounced your agreement with the strongholds that previously bound you, that you now place your agreement in the truth of God’s Word.

When the devil comes against you with his lies, deceits and manipulations, stand your ground and speak out loud against him!

I love what Jesus exampled in the Bible as it pertains to Satan trying to tempt him.  Jesus was physically very weak.  He had gone 40 days without food and the devil attacked him, much like he does us…When we are already weak…

Luke 4:1-13

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Luke 4

 ¹THEN JESUS, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit

    ²For (during) forty days in the wilderness (desert), where He was tempted (^[a]tried, tested exceedingly) by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.

    ³Then the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, order this stone to turn into a loaf [of bread].

    ⁴And Jesus replied to him, It is written, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone ^[b]but by every word and expression of God.

    ⁵Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [^[c]in the twinkling of an eye].

    ⁶And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.

    ⁷Therefore if You will do homage to and worship me [^[d]just once], it shall all be Yours.

    ⁸And Jesus replied to him, ^[e]Get behind Me, Satan! It is written, You shall do homage to and worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.

    ⁹Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on ^[f]a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;

    ¹⁰For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;

    ¹¹And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

    ¹²And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, ^[g]test exceedingly) the Lord your God.

    ¹³And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, ^[h]stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.

There are a couple of things I would like to point out from this passage of scripture as we close out this chapter.  When Jesus combated the devils temptation, He did it with his spoken words!  As we addressed in the previous chapter, speaking out loud to the mountains in our lives is an aspect of how we use our God given authority in this earth.

The next thing I would like to emphasize is that Jesus spoke the Word of God against the Devil!  God has given us His Word and it is so important that we learn what it says as it pertains to the areas that we have previously struggled under bondage of strongholds!  That way, when the devil does attack, we can speak what God says about us and declare our agreement with the Word of God and who we are now in Christ, rather than allowing the lies of Satan to deceive us!

Finally, even after we experience victory, we have to realize that the Devil will be back when the timing is favorable or opportune (see verse 13).  So it is important that we continue to do what is right because it is right and make the choices for our lives that we know will please God.

If you are unsure of what that means completely, it’s ok, God is faithful to continue to reveal Himself to you and show you more and more what He desires for you and from you.  Just do your part by talking to God and asking Him to show you what you need to understand!

That’s the amazing thing about God, He loves us and wants us to succeed!  As we seek His desires for our lives, He will fill in the blanks with the necessary relationships, knowledge and understanding… This book is just one of those fill in the blanks for you today…  He is faithful!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁵Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

    ⁶In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

Freedom!!!

Chapter 13- Renouncing Sin

So many Christians hear about freedom from sin and want to experience that freedom but never really reach a place of victory over it…why?

Exodus 34:6-7

…God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth,  ⁷Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.

 

Is there a difference between repenting of sin and renouncing our connections to the strongholds that were created in our lives as a result of a lifetime of submitting to sin? I believe that there is a difference and I am also convinced that this may be a significant reason why Christians, who have been postured for freedom from sin through Salvation in Christ, still live out their lives, bound by sin.  It’s not that Christ has not provided freedom, it’s that they have not exercised their God ordained authority and broken the stronghold that has been given authority in their life and allowed to operate.  This is literally a case where Gods people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…

In a previous chapter we discussed the importance of Repenting of sin and loosely defined repentance as asking God for forgiveness and turning 180 degrees away from the sin.  However, since that chapter we have also discussed the topic of areas where Satan has established strongholds in our lives both through doors that we have opened and also through generational strongholds that are often handed down from generation to generation like Exodus 34:6 is addressing above when it states; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.

Many times these strongholds have left us with a feeling or even an understanding of forgiveness after we became saved but lacking a sense of victory over them because we have continued to fall into many of the vices that we previously struggled with before we became a Christian.  This often occurs even when our staunchest desires and efforts have been to NOT succumb to that sin again.  And when we do, we feel powerless to overcome sin.

In this chapter we are going to discuss what I believe to be the KEY to freedom in our lives in the area that we previously defined as a spiritual Stronghold, and that key is …

 

Merriam-Webster

 

re·nounced re·nounc·ing

Definition of RENOUNCE

transitive verb

1: to give up, refuse, or resign usually by formal declaration

2: to refuse to follow, obey, or recognize any further 

 

 

The areas of sin that we have called strongholds are absolutely forgiven once we have invited Christ into our lives and asked God to forgive us of them. But just because we are forgiven and just because our freedom has already been purchased, it does not mean that we have released the sin or that we will automatically walk free from sin or be released from strongholds that we have always struggled with, allowed to exist and many time even invited into our lives through our actions and agreements.

Most of us have spent a lifetime holding on to, protecting and even nurturing these stronghold areas and as a result, these strongholds have almost become a part of who we are.  Then, we find ourselves having difficulty embracing what God has for us and what is truly our inheritance (our freedom in Christ), because we are still holding on to or being ruled by the strongholds of our past.  In this chapter today I want to explain how we release those strongholds and embrace our new Godly inheritance of freedom.

The way we need to look at our new found relationship with Christ is much like an immigrant to a new country would look at their new citizenship in that country.

I live in the United States of America.  In our country we have specific laws that must be followed in order for a foreign emigrant to become a US citizen.  Much like the spiritual freedom from sin’s oppression that people experience when they become a Christian, people who have lived under oppressive governments will often come to the United States in hopes of experiencing the liberty and freedoms that we enjoy as US citizens.  However, there is a process that must take place in order for those freedoms to be inherited and this process transcends the physical by applying also to our spiritual parallel.

There are some who visit this country on work visas or student visas and for a short time experience life in the United States but just because they have temporary residence here does not make them a citizen of our country.  As a result, they do not experience all of the rights or benefits of that citizenship.  They taste the freedom, and many times they want the freedom, wishing they could live it in all the time but cannot live permanently under the umbrella of our freedoms because they are still citizens of another country and bound by the rule of that government according to their citizenship.  And because they are not citizens here, at some point they must return to the country where their citizenship resides and submit to the rule, laws and often times oppression of their leadership. Many also have lived a christian life that felt like this… It’s as if they are operating under a temporary visa, and returning back to bondage after tasting limited freedom… But this is not what God intended for us!

Citizenship entitles you to certain benefits

I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 22 who was a Roman Citizen by birth.  In his day, Rome was the world’s superpower and Roman citizens experienced rights that superseded even the rights of those who lived in other countries that were under Roman rule.  In this particular chapter, the apostle Paul was ordered by a Roman commander to be beaten.

Acts 22:24-29

New Living Translation (NLT)

Paul Reveals His Roman Citizenship

 ²⁴ The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious. ²⁵ When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer^[a] standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

 ²⁶ When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

 ²⁷ So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

   “Yes, I certainly am,” Paul replied.

 ²⁸ “I am, too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!”

   Paul answered, “But I am a citizen by birth!”

 ²⁹ The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

 

 

When the commander found out that he had consented to beat a naturally born Roman citizen he was terrified of the repercussions because he understood the legal inheritance of those who are citizens of Rome.  This soldier did not have the same rights that Paul had because he was not a Roman born citizen, he purchased his citizenship at great price and his actions against the apostle Paul could have cost him dearly.

Just like Paul, our heavenly citizenship carries significant entitlement and in a comparable manner, we have the authority as citizens to demand our God given rights… We used to reside under the oppressive rule of sin but now have been provided freedom through our relationship with Christ.  In essence, Christ purchased our new citizenship for us. However, this does not mean that we WILL walk in freedom just because we have it at our disposal!  Like Paul, sometimes we have to demand our rights and call upon the authority of our citizenship!

I’ve met MANY Christians who love Jesus and are absolutely saved but are still completely bound by strongholds of sin in their lives.  Many of them simply do not even realize that they can actually walk outside of the bondages that they have always experienced!

I would liken it to someone who immigrated out of a very oppressive communist government into the United States and are now afforded all of the available liberties of our country but still act like someone who lives under tyranny.  That kind of bondage supersedes the freedom that is rightfully theirs.  It is a stronghold that has come to rule their life and keeps them from experiencing the freedom that is theirs by divine inheritance.

I’ve heard a statement that parallels what I am talking about.  Have you ever heard someone say, You can take the kid out of the street but you can’t take the street out of the kid in reference to people who grew up dirt poor, then make money or come into some money but continue to act just like they did before they had the money… Now of course, this is not an absolute or even necessarily a rule of thumb, but it does adequately convey the perspective of a stronghold that I would term  in this case a poverty mentality.

When someone becomes a citizen of a new country, one necessary action that must be taken is renouncing his or her former citizenship.  You cannot become a legal citizen of one country if you still hold citizenship or allegiance to another.  When renouncing your former citizenship you break ties and the rights of that country to have jurisdiction over you.  You are no longer under their rule and also are no longer bound by their laws outside of their borders.

What often happens in Christianity is that people live what I will term a dual citizenship.  They ask for forgiveness of sin, they repent and attempt to turn away from sin because they want Christ to rule in their lives, but they have not completely renounced the citizenship of their past and as a result attempt to live within the laws of both systems.  They still have strongholds at work in their lives that have been there for as long as they can remember and many times they feel almost powerless to obtain victory over them.

It’s almost like becoming a citizen of a new country but having bullies from the former government contacting you constantly to threaten and discourage you from your new found freedom with accusations of how bad you are, how many mistakes you have made, how impossible it will be for you to live within the guidelines of your new citizenship and even with threats of, if your new government finds out who you really are, they will deny your citizenship and deport you back to your former oppressor!  It is quickly understood when we try to live under this dual citizenship, that we cannot serve two masters.  The difficulty lies in the understanding that we want to do what is right but we are too used to doing things under the old rule and strongholds.  Even though we have taken the kid out of the street the street, the strongholds resulting from a lifetime of being raised under those strongholds are still ruling the kid…When you enter your new citizenship with the baggage and mentality of the old citizenship then, truth be told, you haven’t really COMPLETELY renounced your former citizenship and the strongholds from of the past.

Speaking to the Mountian

Mark 11:12, 19-25

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree and Clears the Temple Courts

 ¹² The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry… ¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples^[a] went out of the city.

 ²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

   ²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly^[b] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

 

I love this scripture!  Jesus is using a practical example one day to set up a lesson for the next day.  On the first day, Jesus is hungry and goes up to a fig tree for something to eat.  When he sees that there is no fruit on the tree he speaks to the tree and curses it with His words.  Then, on the following day there is an opportunity to teach His disciples a very valuable lesson.

Peter, sees the tree that Jesus cursed just 24 hours before and now it is completely shriveled up!  He’s blown away!  Jesus then goes on to teach Him a lesson about mountains in our lives.  He tells Peter, IF you will speak to the mountains in your life and command them to be gone and believe God to act on your behalf according to what you have said, then it WILL happen!

We have all opened the door for sin and strongholds to operate in our lives.  Most of us have also grown up in environments where doors to strongholds were also opened by those in authority over us and we were simply taught to operate under the authority of those strongholds by the example of parents and leaders who themselves were bound by a generational stronghold.

Either way, these strongholds have been like Mount Everest to us!  They have stood in our way and impeded our progress our entire lives and we have grown so accustomed to it being a part of our life’s geography that we have simply assumed that it marked the border of our progress and citizenship.

Jesus was exampling something specific to Peter in this passage of scripture.  He told Peter, SPEAK to the mountain and command it to be removed and pray, believing that you will receive what you pray for and you will have it!  The boundaries and borders set up by strongholds have never been God’s boundary or border for you!  They have marked the boundary that Satan placed in your path to keep you from ever progressing beyond that point!

God’s citizenship expands your previous borders and the only thing standing in your way is your perception of the border, or perhaps better put your perception of the liberty and authority you possess as a result of your new citizenship!

Too often, we are much like the elephant who has been bound with a chain in its youth until its spirit is broken and it just believes that it cannot get out of the bondage.  Once it is broken and convinced that it is bound, it can be held captive with a small rope, because it does not realize or believe that it has the ability to be free.  In that perception lays a satanic belief system that was designed to keep you from your destiny as it contradicts the Word of God that says we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!  The believer who does not believe that he can do all things through Christ…WON’T!

Jesus was confronting a belief system with Peter as it pertained to mountains in our lives!  He was saying, Peter, you can be free simply by confronting that stronghold (mountain) in faith and commanding it to be removed from your path!  Like Peter, each of us are given that authority to confront sin and strongholds and command those mountains to be removed from our lives!  It is our inheritance to walk in freedom from sin!

You have a new citizenship and in that citizenship comes new authority over what previously bound you!  The thing that I see holding people back and forcing them to live under the bondage of lifelong strongholds is that most often, they are trying to live a dual citizenship.  Under dual citizenship, you are ruled by two systems of government.  Sin still has rule over you because it hasn’t been renounced and then God also has rule over you because you have given your life to Him.  When this happens it feels as though we are being torn apart spiritually because we are serving two masters!

Renouncing citizenship in one country allows you the liberties of another but there is not a spiritual dual citizenship that experiences or entitles you to all of the benefits of both… It simply does not exist in the spiritual realm…and you have to choose your side!

Choose your side!

 

I’m confident, if you have reached this point in the book, your desires are to live free from the strongholds of your past citizenship under sin.  The good news is, you can… and if you really desire to, you WILL walk in freedom!

Christ already purchased our freedom, but even in Mark chapter 11, Jesus didn’t say, become a Christian and serve me and the mountains will move.  Jesus commissioned Peter to action!  He told him to SPEAK to the mountain under his new authority in Christ and command it to be removed, then He told him to pray about his needs and desires in faith, believing God will answer his prayers and finally he told him to forgive anyone he had anything against.

There is authority over sin on God’s side!  Our citizenship affords us rights and liberties far beyond that of our former citizenship!  Now is the time to renounce your former citizenship!  If you are sick of living bound by sin and defeated by the strongholds established in your past, you can be free!  Are you ready to renounce your former citizenship and the bondage that accompanied it once and for all?

Renouncing your former citizenship

 

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

New King James Version (NKJV)

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Although our strongholds and mountains often have come in the form of people exercising their own free will to choose sin and give us hell on earth, the root of what is coming against us is not physical…It is spiritual!  It does often have physical attributes and consequences, but the real battle is a spiritual one!

Because strongholds have spiritual roots we must address them from a spiritual perspective and then the spiritual victory will also produce physical results in our lives.

Jesus physically spoke to the fig tree and the tree dried up.  Then Jesus told Peter speak to the mountain and it will be removed.  Although these issues are being addressed with words, Jesus was showing us that our authority in this earth is linked physically and spiritually to our spoken words and prayers through our authority in Christ Jesus.

This is why I am convinced that there is vital importance to renouncing sin and directly confronting strongholds with our words!  Jesus said to speak to the mountain and it will be removed and for most of us, our biggest mountains are the strongholds that have been established in our lives over a lifetime!  These mountains or strongholds have represented the border that has impeded our progress our entire lives!  Every time we reach a certain point, it is this same stronghold that caps our progress and keeps us from our God ordained destiny…and it is high time that those mountains be cast into the sea so that we can move on into our next level of victory!

As we have addressed in previous chapters, the bible says that we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free.

John 8:32

Amplified Bible (AMP)

³²And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.

This is a perfect example where the truth of God’s Word shines a light on an area of our lives where we have been in darkness and bondage and shows us how to walk in new freedom!  For many of you reading this, your are hearing about strongholds and freedom from them for the first time in your life and understanding this truth has lead you to a place where you not only understand that there is freedom but now you won’t settle for less than what you know is yours!

1 John 5:14-15

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁴And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. ¹⁵And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

 

It is time to renounce your former citizenship and break the power of the strongholds in your life!  Are you ready?!

In order to do this, I would like you to first get a pen and a piece of paper and I would like you to write down every area in your life that you can think of that you have had difficulty overcoming.   I’m listing below some of the stronghold areas that people experience.  Go through and place a circle around the ones that apply to you in your life and then write them down on your paper.  If you can think of something from your past that is applicable but is not listed write it down on the paper as well.  And even before going through this list, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas that you may have had strongholds binding you and perhaps forgotten.

Strongholds of Fear (timidity, low self-esteem, worry, anxiety, fear of failure, fear of man (what people think of you), phobias, fear of abandonment, fear of men (because of abuse), fear of women, fear of authority,

Strongholds of witchcraft (black magic, white magic, wiccan, channeling, fortune telling, Satanism…etc)

Strongholds from sexual sin (adultery, lust, rape, molestation, pornography, fornication, prostitution…etc)

Strongholds of Repetitive Sicknesses (infirmities, repeated health problems…etc)

Strongholds of bondage (Drugs, alcoholism, cigarette addiction, co-dependency, pornography addictions, food addictions, addicted to specific sins…etc)

Strongholds of Pride (Vanity, arrogance, controlling, overbearing, judgmental, rude, egotism, prejudice, domineering, self-righteousness, stubbornness, contentiousness…etc)

Strongholds of Religion (atheism, agnosticism, false religions, false teachings and legalisms…etc)

Strongholds of Heaviness (depression, despair, continual sorrow, hopelessness, shame, abnormal grief, continual sadness, loneliness, feelings of rejection, unjustified guilt, whining, cynical, discouragement, brokenheartedness…etc)

Strongholds of Deception (lying, hypocrisy, legalism, exaggeration, strong delusions, poor self image, emotionalism, flattery…etc)

Strongholds of Jealousy (insecurity, distrustfulness, anger, wrath, rage, revenge, hate, cruelty, unnatural competition, division, self-centeredness…etc)

Strongholds Preventing Growth (procrastination, irresponsibility, immaturity, compromise, continuously making wrong decisions, intellectualism, unbelief, racism, inappropriate behavior, inappropriate thinking, lack of integrity…etc)

As you can see, each of these examples have a root stronghold that manifests itself in many different physical responses in our lives.   I believe that it is important to list on our paper all the areas that we have had strongholds controlling our lives so that we can speak directly to the mountains that have caused us so many problems over the course of our lifetime!  In just a moment, I am going to have you repeat a prayer with me where you renounce specific strongholds.  When you are doing this, I would also encourage you to name the times that you can remember that you placed your life in agreement with these strongholds.

For instance, if you are renouncing adultery in your life, also write down the name of the person(s) that you have committed that sin with or even the specific times that you can recall.  This is not to remind you of your sin, it is to intentionally address these areas so that when you remember them in the future, you remember them as something that you have renounced and is no longer a part of your life!

Get your list and pray this prayer out loud with me:

Father God, I thank you that you have forgiven me of every sin that I have ever committed.  I thank you Jesus for purchasing my freedom from sin and providing me with authority over the strongholds of sin that have been a part of my life for so long. 

 

Today, I intentionally renounce and break the power of sin and strongholds in my life in accordance to your word.  I speak out loud with my mouth that these mountains which have previously served as barriers and borders in my life and impeded my progress are cast out of my life and have no authority to ever return.

 

I renounce today the demonic strongholds that have operated in my life!  Both those that I have opened the door to and those that have been a part of my ancestry!  The doors that have been opened to the enemy through my choices, the choices of those who have hurt me and my family choices are slammed shut today!

 

I renounce the stronghold of (name the sin and the stronghold that it set up in your life specifically-whether or not you committed it or it was committed against you, a stronghold was established and you need to tear that stronghold down) and I refuse to agree with it in action or deed any more through my actions.  The curses that have come against me that associated with that stronghold are abolished in Jesus name and I do not submit to their rule anymore!  (Name the sin and stronghold) has no authority over my life any more because I am a child of Almighty God and I have been purchased with a great price through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  I command that stronghold of (Name the sin and stronghold) to be broken and removed from my life in the name of Jesus! 

 

(repeat the above declaration for each sin and stronghold that you have listed on your paper)

 

The truth of Gods word has set me free and I am free.  Today is the day of my salvation.  My past is gone, my sin is forgiven and my life is free from the bondages of strongholds!

 

I ask you God to fill me with your Holy Spirit.  Fill the areas that were once occupied by sinful strongholds.  Order my footsteps in peace according to your desires and give me the wisdom and understanding to be able to walk out my relationship with you in integrity and faithfulness. 

 

Help me to reach my God ordained destiny and be the person that you created me to be.

 

I submit my life to you.  Thank you for taking my fragmented life and making me whole again.

 

Amen

Now take the list of sins and strongholds along with the names and circumstances surrounding them that you wrote down on the paper and tear it up!!!  Throw it on the floor and stomp on it… That stuff is beneath you and you don’t have to dwell on it any more… now get rid of it…throw it away, burn it, whatever… it’s behind you…Today is a new day!  You don’t have to be bound by those chains any more!  Those sins and their bondage were nailed to the cross with Christ Jesus… He died for your FREEDOM!!!

Now that you have broken the chains and bondages of strongholds in your life, how do you continue to stay free?  In the next chapter I will address this topic in depth…

Video: What do you say to the man who tried to kill you…?

Aaron Davis, aka The Tattooed Preacher, shares his story about the day a man tried to kill him and the journey he took to forgive him… http://www.TattooPreacher.com

Make Lemonade…

Make Lemonade…

So what do you say to the guy who tried to kill you…?

I’ve heard it said, “When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade…” I’m not big on cutesy clichés like this one or “sticks and stones” that, when placed against the backdrop of reality simply do not hold up. I’m not sure who coined the phrase but I have to question if our lemonade author was someone who just likes the taste of lemons and hasn’t ever had to endure a life experience that wakes you up in the middle of the night screaming or sends you into a flashback when placed in an environment where a vivid traumatic memory is triggered. I can say for certain, if you are that person who never has… Then, be thankful and enjoy the lemonade…

For those who have, you know that the metaphorical lemon is more like a tablespoon of strychnine that wrenches your guts as you somehow hope that it doesn’t kill you. There isn’t any making lemonade with your circumstances…there isn’t any sweetening it or making it more palatable… it is what it is and what it is SUCKS!

I spent the morning in prison today. I’m just going to tell you straight up…I HATE prisons! I cannot stand being locked behind fences and razor wire with thousands of inmates who are “the face looking back” in someone else’s traumatic memory.

I have seen with my own eyes the “evil that men do” and the tattered lives of the innocent victims and families, as they are left picking up the pieces and attempting to put their lives back together after one of these guys were done doing what they did.

As I frequently do, I looked into the faces and eyes of the men and women that I came in contact with today… Inmates, visiting family members and victims. Each one with a “story”… Each one with a mental “Case File”… Each one with a life-altering event that impacted entire families…

My head was swimming with thoughts and perceptions and realizations of realities that the “fortunate” ones (the isolated lemonade makers) will never have to face, and then the realities that those of us who have been “less than fortunate” have to live with every day…

Everyone has experienced different levels of pain and I also realize that pain is relative to your life experience. I’m not at all comparing or diminishing pain… It sucks no matter who you are or how much you have endured…but I cannot deny that there are some who have suffered in ways that are far worse than many would even understand. And the reason I am prefacing what I’m writing today is to keep things in this very real perspective… The truth is, you just DO NOT KNOW UNTIL YOU KNOW!

It’s so easy for someone who has never had to endure your tragedy to tell you to “Suck it up” or “Get over it”… When, not only does that seem impractical, but, to you it may even seem impossible at this point in your healing process…

I’m speaking from experience on this subject. I used to be “That Guy” who thought I knew but actually had no clue… I’ve seen so many Christians who would tell someone “You just need to give your pain to Jesus” when they have NO IDEA what that even means from the perspective of the person that they are talking to. And, although their statement may have an element of truth, the word “Just” in that sentence is a lot bigger than the speakers mind or experience can even comprehend.

To someone who has experienced much pain, there is no simple “JUST” as it pertains to what they have endured…if the “Just” was so simple, they would have given it up a long time ago… and when we trivialize their experience with such a cliché pontification of what they “Just Need To” do, it exasperates the level of pain and frustration for those who have been victimized. Not to mention placing them in a position of feeling like a further failure when they do all they understand to do but cannot live up to everyone else’s “Just Need To” for their life…

The point I’m making in the opening of this is for those who may be inclined to try to justify their judgment or perspective based upon “YOUR” circumstances or life experience… The truth is, everyone has a different story and experienced level of pain/healing…Your “just need to” may be much different than theirs…

It is my hope in writing what I am today, to challenge and inspire those who HAVE had to endure deep levels of hardship while also hopefully educating those who have not to a deeper level of understanding and compassion as it pertains to people, life and choices.

The Predicament

It’s really kind of strange…I’m in a very tricky predicament as a pastor whose mission statement is “Touching the Untouchable and Reaching the Unreachable…” By election and calling, God often sends in my direction those who many are not willing to touch or unable to reach. And, as you may or may not realize, that particular demographic often has a lot of deep-rooted pain associated with it.

It is their pain that is often the catalyst for the walls they erect to protect themselves from outsiders or being hurt again…but on the flipside has also alienated them from experiencing or understanding the love of God through His people. I’m not attempting to label anyone, but the point remains that many times, it is their pain and their response to that pain that has ultimately placed them in what most would consider the “untouchable or unreachable” category.

So, here I am, this pastor that often breaks the mold for Ministerial PC or what I coin MC (Ministerial Correctness) and often is like sand paper for those who think they know… and I’m reaching out and loving on people that many have wrote off and finding compassion in my heart for the very ones that many have given up on…But that demographic is bigger than just those who are “good people but have been wounded along the road of life…”

As much as I believe in grace and forgiveness, on the flip side, I’m a man who is DRIVEN by justice, fairness and righteousness… It’s HUGE to me for justice to be served. And, as a result, today I found myself very torn.

While in prison, I was warring with two sides of me… One side feeling a compassion for the lost souls of these likely lifelong wounded people who come from all walks and have experienced all kinds of trauma themselves which was likely the very reason that they ended up as they did in prison (the typical product of their environment story). And the other side of me who HATES injustice and despises the evil and pain that these people that I was surrounded by have committed in acts of selfishness and brutality…(thinking about it even now causes me to have the most confusing mixed emotions…)

I’m the pastor who tries to embrace the heart of Jesus as it pertains to loving people AND I’m the Cop who put a lot of those guys in the cells that they are in today… It’s so weird, I always wanted to be a police officer or a “cop”…but I also knew I was called to ministry and always said, “I don’t understand how I could be a pastor and a cop”… Even then, I understood why the two mindsets could conflict at some point… Now I have an experiential firsthand knowledge of that perspective…it’s hard enough to be a Christian and a cop… but when you couple that police mindset with being a pastor…I’ll just say it again, you don’t know until you know!

I was in this prison in Northwest Tennessee today to attend the parole hearing of a man convicted of Attempted Murder 4 ½ years ago… The personal aspect of this particular case for me was, I was the victim and the man facing the parole board today was convicted of trying to kill ME…

He received 18 years for attempted 2^nd degree murder and wasn’t even supposed to be eligible for a parole hearing until the summer of 2012, but, by chance, I called the district attorney’s office last week and asked them to let me know when this young man would stand before the parole board so that I could maybe attend. To my and their surprise, the secretary said, “Um, Aaron, my computer says he’s going before the board next Tuesday…”

Here I was facing another myriad of mixed emotions. I had been told that he would spend 5 ½ years in prison before even being able to stand before the board and then he would likely be denied parole a few times before being released… in my mind, he’d be locked up 7-8 years for what he did to me before I’d even have to think about it… and now, here I was, having to face in a weeks time what I thought I had at least a year and probably 3-4 years left to confront…

I began forgiving this young man initially the week after he attacked me. I say “began” intentionally because I had some “up days” and “down days” as it pertained to forgiveness. I spent several months with severe vertigo night and day… multiple more months in vestibular rehabilitation, then I found out that the successful career that I had worked so hard to build was over when the doctors told me that I could never go back into law enforcement again because of the injuries that I sustained… SWAT, Detective work, Officer of the year, payroll, insurance benefits…ALL GONE!

So, I had several seasons where I had to CHOOSE to forgive in spite of feelings of anger toward the man whose actions were the catalyst for what felt like my life falling apart… Then I had to deal with the depression, anxiety, fleeting feelings of self worth that accompanied the following years…all of which were a direct result of one days events and one mans choice to try to hurt me. What’s more, the day he attacked me, I was trying to HELP him and talking to him about making good choices and even working “God and His love” into the conversation… and this, just minutes before he tried to kill me… the totality of these circumstances were the perfect tracks to carry me on quite a roller coaster as it pertained to the “forgiveness” that I initially set out to accomplish…

Pain is something that we all experience and we can only gauge the intensity of our personal pain against the experiences that we have encountered. Although the attempt on my life was a traumatic experience for me, and the rehabilitation/recalibration a lengthy and difficult process… in comparison to the rape that a very dear pastor friend of mine experienced several years ago, or compared to the soldier coming back from Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley (named the most deadly place on earth in recent years) or compared to the child who has experienced emotional, physical and sexual abuse…My “painful” experience is not on the same level and I realize that… However, it does not change “my process” or how I had to navigate what I went through to reach a place of healing and resolve. And although each persons experience differs, I believe that my personal journey can at least be an example and carry something to be learned by anyone who has experienced pain…

Wound vs Scar

I had a friend contact me recently who has experienced intense levels of pain far beyond my own experiential ability to comprehend. They basically asked me, “why can’t I move forward through this at the rate that I have seen others get through their problems?” Truth be told, I’ve asked this same question myself at times. Wondering “Why, I was still struggling with things that other people, (in what I considered similar circumstances) didn’t even seem to war with…and yet, I struggled to get past it.

I’ve come to understand that everyone heals differently. Again, it has a lot to do with the amount of trauma associated with the experiences and even emotional make up… but where the rubber meets the road, no two circumstances are exactly the same and no two people respond exactly the same to the same catalyst. I’ve spoken to siblings who endured the same traumatic event at the same time and one has undergone a completely different emotional healing process than the other…there is no black and white explanation as to why…it just is what it is… People are different.

When a wound is fresh, the nerves and tissues are exposed and it is EXTREMELY tender! We will often place some kind of bandage around the wound to allow protection and healing to begin to take place. But healing is a process that takes time…and depending on the severity of the wound, the time that the healing process takes is often directly related to the severity of the wound. Someone who cuts their finger does not require the same amount of healing time as someone who breaks an arm. Someone who breaks an arm doesn’t require the same healing time as someone who gets in a severe car accident and breaks many bones… The severity of the wounds experienced often directly relate to the time that the healing process will take to scar.

An interesting thing to consider about healing is, that during the time that the healing process is taking place, there is a natural inclination to protect the wounded area… sometimes, even after the wound is healed and scarred, the amount of time that we have spent guarding and protecting that area from reinjury has developed in us a habit that becomes an unconscious response perpetuating long after the wound is no longer tender even though the area where the break or wound took place is actually stronger than it was before the injury.

For instance, where a bone breaks and heals, the bones scar tissue is actually stronger in that place than it was before the break. And on the skin, where a scar is present, the skin is often even thicker than it was before it was wounded. It is a natural response of the body toward healing and strengthening through scarring.

The scar is the after math of healing. The scarred area shouldn’t hurt like it did when it was a fresh wound. It is the visual reminder of an area that was once very open and sensitive but has since strengthened and recovered. And depending on life experiences, becoming “healed” or living with the scar without feeling the constant tenderness of the initial wound is often a matter of time, care for the wound and sometimes seeing the necessary professional to help you heal as needed. (often the “necessary professional” is a combination of Doctors and God particularly when the wound is very severe…)

An interesting side note on involving the necessary professional is this. If you break a bone for instance, and you do not properly set the bone before it starts to heal, then healing will still take place but it will leave you with an unset healing or limp. If it’s not set right, or necessary physical therapy is not pursued, then there will have to be a readdress of the initial injury later in order to set things into proper alignment if you want the injured area to function normally.

This is a common issue with emotional healing. People leave their healing process up to time without seeking professional help and hope it just gets better…then years later they find themselves walking around with a limp from the initial injury. And in order to set it straight and fix the limp, there must be an address and some sort of reinjury/surgery to the area to set the scarred area right. Sadly, many times people opt to live with the limp rather than readdress the injury because of the pain of revisiting it…

People are at different stages of wounding, healing and scarring in their lives. I spoke last night with my friend who was raped and she expressed to me that at this point, the experience is a scar. She has healed emotionally and she is able to speak about it and even in some ways is a stronger person today because of the event. Given the choice, she would likely have chosen to not have the experience that created the scar…but in His faithfulness, God has worked all these things together for her good as He said in His word that He would.

Romans 8:28 (New International Version, ©2011)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose.

I believe that there is a healing place for everyone. But based upon the steps toward healing that we have taken, sometimes that healing is expedited and sometimes it is slowed down. I am confident that as we seek God that there is a balm that He applies to our wounds that speeds up our healing… but, it is not often an instantaneous occurrence. And it’s certainly not an issue of “Just giving it up” as so many will say from a place of ignorance concerning what that really means. Yes, we are to give our hurts and pains to God and He WILL help us deal with them…But it is also important to understand that most people do not even begin to know how to do that and will need someone who cares for their well being to help them walk through their difficulty. And some who have been traumatically wounded may also need help beyond what you are capable of walking them through.

I Peter 5:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Healing is a process and there is that “time aspect” of healing that will have to take place before we reach our desired destination. Similar to those in physical therapy, we see people who are running on a treadmill while we are still having trouble walking. We find ourselves comparing our progress to the one who is running and feel like we are so far behind that we will never reach that place of recovery. That is a normal comparative thing to do but it is necessary to realize that we are in a different place with different circumstances surrounding our personal road to healing.

There are other factors to consider as well…Occasionally, because of the amount of time that we have spent not addressing the issue, there is even a period of time that it may feel like we are going backward as we have to address the resetting process in order for us to move forward with our healing and one day be able to run again…

Healing is tricky…Especially as it pertains to emotions. There are so many factors that come in to play. Healing, Scarring, Reopening of a wound through a new experience, walls placed up in an attempt to protect the wounded area, feelings of inadequacy when we don’t heal like we “thought we should…in the time we should”, feelings of anger toward those who have hurt us, feelings of bitterness, depression, anxiety…and the list could go on and on… as I said earlier, no two wounds are the same and the residual side effects are as different as the people who experience them.

What I found in my life was that I had to start from a place of “forgiveness”. And that did not take place overnight. I had to first determine in myself that I would allow myself to forgive. ( I understand that some of you are not there at this point in the healing process….that’s ok…This is my journey. )

I first DECIDED that I would forgive…then I began taking the necessary steps toward making that happen. It was not easy every day. On the really hard days, when I had spent 4 hours in physical therapy, I didn’t really feel like “forgiving” as I wondered if my world would ever go back to “normal”. I didn’t always feel like praying for the guy who tried to take my life and set all the events that I was experiencing in motion. But I chose to do what I didn’t want to do sometimes. I would pray for him even when I didn’t feel “so forgiving” because I knew that, in order for my healing to take place to the point I wanted it to, I could not allow his actions to continue to be something that I hung on to with bitterness or hatred.

It started out as a choice and that choice eventually became a lifestyle. I did finally reach a point where I was not bitter and I was not angry. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking to high five the guy when I saw him nor was I planning to thank him for hurting me but I did finally reach a point where the wound(s) became scars and I was not emotionally attached to the events on December 14^th, 2006. (And, for the record, I used several professional mediums to help me through the healing process in order to reach the point where I am today. Between God, Time, Counseling, Medication, Debriefing and a lot of prayer from a lot of people, I have reached a different plateau than I was at a few years ago… )

Closure

Even with the forgiveness having already been established in my heart, I still felt a lack of closure as it pertained to what happened to me. For me, it was important to be able to look my attacker in the eyes and let him know that he was forgiven. I’m not sure why, and honestly, it may have been something that was as important for him as it was for me and simply something that God laid on my heart to accomplish more for his sake than mine… But I had to tell the man who committed the greatest injustice toward me of my life that I forgave him completely. Easy task…right…? Not so much…

I warred with going to the prison today. I drove all those hours to get there, I paid for the gas and the hotel and then this morning I sat in the parking lot of the hotel, and while holding the keys to the car I found myself questioning if this was something that I was actually going to do…I relived some feelings from the past few years for a few moments and then, just like the decision to “forgive” that I made a few years ago, I made another decision when I didn’t really “feel” like it… I decided that I would finish this and close the door to this season in my life…

The Prison

As I sat in a cold Twenty-Five by Fifteen white block room with bolted down red chairs and a table bolted to the floor, I faced my attacker, his family, a parole officer and a two corrections officers. I looked the young man in the eyes who the last time I looked in his eyes was on top of me, inches from my face strangling me after hitting me in the face with a trailer hitch. Instead of speaking anger or opposition to the possibility of his release from prison, I spoke life into him…

I spoke to the God ordained destiny that was in him if he would seek God in his life. I told him that he did not have to be defined by this past season and he could leave this place (prison) and make a new life for himself if he chose to. I explained to him how his actions had significant impact on my life and the difficulties that his choices created for me and my family…I spoke to him about the repercussions of the choices that he has made and the potential for future success if he will choose to do what is right in contrast to his previous decisions…then I looked him in his eyes and told him that I never wanted any of this for him, that I often prayed for him and that to me, he was forgiven…

After I finished saying what I had to say, I was dismissed from the hearing. As the door was unlocked for me to leave and I walked out of the parole hearing room, he called out from behind me, “Detective Davis…Thank you…”

With my assigned Corrections Officer, I proceeded to walk in silence back down the corridors decorated with iron doors of prison cells on both sides of me and out into the yard to the last gate of razor wire. As the Correction Officer called for the gate to be opened he looked down toward the ground as if in deep thought and said, just loud enough for me to hear him, “Most people wouldn’t understand why you just did what you did in there… But I do… It was what he did…”

Puzzled by his choice of words I asked him, “…He?”

He looked up at me and said, “Jesus… They didn’t deserve it but He forgave them anyway…”

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

I recently read a quote in the book The Heart Revolution (Sergio De La Mora)- You never really know if you believe in Grace until you’re put in a position where you must extend grace to someone who doesn’t deserve it or you have a need for it to be extended to you…

That quote seemed applicable today, as I placed a season of life behind me for good and experienced a release in completing what I felt was my final responsibility to it… Although the scars remain a reminder of where I have been and what I have endured, for me, the case file is closed and tomorrow marks a new chapter…

I’m thirsty, I think I’ll make some lemonade…

It means “To Turn”

This is another rough Draft Chapter from the book that I am presently writing… After Doing Time

Chapter 9- It means “To Turn”

In previous chapters we have discussed the power of applying the Word of God to our lives and placing our agreement in what it says despite our circumstances and how that as a result, literally life and death can be hanging in the balances.

In this chapter, I want to take this understanding a step further and address what I believe to be a grossly overlooked aspect of Biblical salvation…True Repentance.

What is Born Again?!

In the bible, Jesus is confronted by a man named Nicodemus who was an astute scholar of the Word of God.  Nicodemus recognized that there was something amazingly unique about Jesus and snuck out in the night to have a meeting with him.

John 3

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

 ¹ Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. ² He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

 ³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

 ⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

In essence, at this point, Nicodemus is completely floored and confused by what Jesus just said to him.  Some of you reading this book have heard these words Born Again and Kingdom of God used your whole life while others, like Nicodemus are hearing that for the first time and may be just as confused as Nicodemus was by what this could possibly mean!

It sounds like complete foolishness when not taken in the proper context.  But Jesus was setting Nicodemus up with his words, he was intentionally baiting him to get him to think outside the box of what he had previously experienced or even understood as possible.

There are all kinds of words and phrases that are used in Christian culture that are not readily understood by the masses outside of that culture.  Because, many who use these Christian-isms do not take the time to explain what they mean and just assume people understand what they already know, I am one who usually tries to stray away from lingo that is prevalent in Christian culture. I have found, in many cases, it actually confuses or even scares the heck out of people who hear it if they were not raised in church.

If I am not going to take the time to explain to them what it means (like Jesus did with Nicodemus) then I try to avoid the cliché phrases.  Phrases like, Washed in the blood, a Hedge of Protection, the Blood of the Lamb, Working out our Sanctification, Gifts of the Spirit, Being Saved…and even being Born Again. 

 

Don’t take this the wrong way, with proper explanation, there is nothing wrong with using these words as examples for what we are attempting to express, but I have come to realize that, to many Christians, this is so much a part of their identity that they forget that sometimes the people who were not raised in church have absolutely NO IDEA what these phrases mean and how it sounds as weird to those not raised in that culture as it would to them if someone said, Have you been washed in Buddha’s blood?  Eat the flesh and drink the blood of Buddha!  Which would likely send them in an open sprint in the opposite direction…

I make this point for two reasons:  One, to show that sometimes, without proper enlightenment, what Christians take for granted that everyone understands is not always commonly understood.  And secondly,  if you are one of those people who have never been exposed to that culture and have no background in Christianity, I personally understand your apprehension with some of the things that you may not have been able to previously comprehend.

Regardless of what side of that fence that you fall on, what I am about to address in the rest of this chapter, many people who have been raised in church have never truly understood.  The truth of the matter is that this teaching is applicable for everyone no matter how much biblical teaching (or lack of) that they have received .

Jesus told Nicodemus, Unless you are Born Again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.  There is a ton of addressable content in that one statement.  First of all, what does it mean to be Born Again?

Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, not about a physical rebirth, but a spiritual rebirth in which, as we spoke about in previous chapters, all things become new.   It’s as if we were given a whole new start in life by being born again into the world with a clean slate and a new found relationship with God that would empower us to live a life free from the bondages of sin. 

 

This born again experience is also often referred to as being saved in which a person is being saved from the spiritual death and hell to follow that their sin would have mandated for them had Jesus not taken their sin upon himself and died in their place for that sin.

Salvation is, in essence a spiritual regeneration in which someone’s spirit literally experiences a whole new life or rebirth.  This is the metamorphosis that we spoke about previously in this book.  And this metamorphosis is rooted in our understanding, faith and agreement with the Word of God concerning who Jesus is and our acceptance of the fact that HE provided the means for us to be able to have a personal relationship with God.   Which brings me to the word Repentance.

What does it mean to Repent?

 

Acts 3:19 (New International Version, ©2011)

¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

 

Often times when someone is entering into a fresh start relationship with God, they are told that they have got to repent for their sins but, what they are told that this means is not always completely accurate.  As a result, they end living their Christian lives beneath their God intended destiny because they haven’t quite understood all that is expected of them or the power to over come that is available to them in this surrender of their sin.

Repentance, as many have been inaccurately instructed, is not only asking for forgiveness of our sins but repenting of them.  Asking forgiveness is an aspect of true repentance but not the complete work.  To repent literally means to turn away from our sin and turn to God as stated in the scripture above.  True repentance is not a finished work when we simply ask for forgiveness, but when we also turn from our sin and to God, according to Acts 3:19 is when refreshing and newness may come from the Lord.

When someone embraces that relationship with God through Jesus, there is a radical change of heart that takes place which is also accompanied with an intense desire to not only ask for forgiveness for the sins that they have committed that previously separated them from that relationship with God but also to turn away from the sin that they now understand is displeasing to God.  And it is in this turning away from the old lifestyle and choices and toward God that true repentance is fulfilled.

2 Timothy 2:19 (New International Version, ©2011)

¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

With that understanding, now I can address the second part of the analogy that Jesus presented to Nicodemus when he said, Unless you are Born Again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.  What did Jesus mean when He said, …you cannot see the kingdom of God?

For starters, I do believe that an aspect of what Jesus was referring to when he said the kingdom of God was eternal life with God in accordance to what the bible says in John 14.  But I don’t believe that eternity was the ONLY thing he was referring to…

John 14:6 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me

I don’t believe that this Kingdom of God reference is only limited to a Heaven/Eternity/after we die experience.  I’m convinced that Jesus was also telling Nicodemus that unless he was born again he would not see what life on this earth could be like with God as his King and leader in a new found personal relationship with Almighty God!  Literally, referring to God’s Kingdom in a capacity where the king is the ruler and those subjugated to that rule reap the benefits of it.  I have heard it said that The Kingdom of God could also be translated, God’s way of doing things.

I believe that the Kingdom of God is referring to a life completely surrendered to God’s authority as your King and Ruler.  Which is evident in a passionate desire and intentional turning away from sinfulness and wickedness.

So, ultimately, the entire statement to Nicodemus when Jesus said, Unless you are Born Again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God …was this:

Nicodemus, unless you embrace the sacrifice that I am about to make for the sins of mankind, place your agreement and faith in God and His Word, and receive a spiritual new birth and regeneration you will never reach your God ordained potential or destiny in the capacity that you could have with God being the true King of your completely surrendered life to Him.  And as a result, you will never truly experience God’s way of doing things.

It is our choices toward sin and wickedness that have positioned us to reap the negative harvests of our actions.  And it will be our born again experience, true repentance, renouncing our ties to previous sin and placing our agreement in Gods Word and plan for our lives that will ultimately set us up for experiencing the Kingdom of God/God’s way of doing things in our lives as we move forward toward our God ordained destiny!

It is our lives and lifestyle that reveals what we truly believe, everything else is just religious talk.  In a nutshell, we live what we believe…

Now, with that understanding, it’s time to renounce our previous agreements with sin and ungodly behavior…

Chapter 10-Renouncing ties to sin…(To be cont’d)

The Power of Agreement- What agreements have influenced your reality?!

This is a rough draft of Chapter 8 from my latest book. I’m posting it here because I believe it has significant ability to impact readers… I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 8- The Power of Agreement

It is amazing the power of a human being who has determined that they will absolutely complete or accomplish a task. As we have addressed in previous chapters, nothing in life happens without first being a thought in our mind and the exponential power of that thought increases when we place our will, faith or belief system behind that thought by agreeing with it.

Most often the first indication of agreement is related to what you speak regarding the situation. I will, I will not, I promise, I’m determined to, I will never…

An interesting perspective on the power of our words coupled with our will, faith and agreement is found in the book of Proverbs where it states that the words that we speak carry the power to kill or give life.

Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified Bible)
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

I’m particularly impressed with the Amplified version of this scripture because it ends with the words…For death or for life. In my experience, I have personally seen the power of agreement go both ways in the lives of people…

Having had years of experience, counseling people from all backgrounds and lifestyles I have found that a significant aspect of why people are who they are is directly related to whose words they have agreed with as it pertained to who they are and how they perceived themselves.

I have counseled men and women who were told by a parent or mentor as children that they were stupid, worthless, unlovable, ugly and would never amount to anything. And as they grew older, their lives reflected those spoken words as they came to accept them as truth, even adopting their accusers perspective as their own and placing their agreement in the words spoken by those in authority over them.

We have the power to overcome these curses that plague our past and influence our future but it will take an absolute determination to first change our agreement! Faith has the power to incapacitate us or move mountains in our lives depending on where it is directed or in what it is placed through our agreement.

Once we place our agreement in something we will inevitably live it out.  I’ve heard it said, You are who you think you are...

Proverbs 23:7 (New King James Version)
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

If you agree that you are worthless, you will act worthless. If you agree that you cannot do something, you will not be able to do it. If you agree that you will fail, you will fail…

In psychology and sociology, this is called a “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior. Although examples of such prophecies can be found in literature as far back as ancient Greece and ancient India, it is 20th-century sociologist Robert K. Merton who is credited with coining the expression “self-fulfilling prophecy” and formalizing its structure and consequences. In his book Social Theory and Social Structure, Merton gives as a feature of the self-fulfilling prophecy: e.g. when Roxanna falsely believes her marriage will fail, her fears of such failure actually cause the marriage to fail.
The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come ‘true’. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.
In other words, a prophecy declared as truth when it is actually false may sufficiently influence people, either through fear or logical confusion, so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.
Taken from en.wikipedia.org

Several years ago, I was working in a court ordered transitional academy for teenagers coming out of juvenile detention but not yet ready to be integrated back into public schools (similar to a half way house for teenagers). There was a seventeen year old student there named Jonas who I developed a relationship with. Jonas was a very imposing young man at nearly 6’ 8” and easily 300 lbs. As many of the teenagers in this program were, Jonas was a member of a street gang and openly admitted to me that he sold drugs and was involved in violent activities.

In speaking with Jonas one day, I attempted to get him to look at the long term ramifications of the lifestyle choices that he was making and how it would influence his future, possibly even killing him. Jonas looked at me and said something that I had never heard from someone his age, Aaron, I’m ready to die…I won’t live to see 21, I’ve never really expected to live this long and I’ve done everything I ever really thought I would want to do…All I have left to do is to get my GED and I’ll be ready to die… 

I of course recognized the hopelessness in what he was saying and felt sincere pity and caution for him concerning what he had placed his agreement in. I attempted to offer him hope and an alternative to his choices, which could change what he perceived his destiny to be. But, sadly, he refused to hear it…Over the months that we spent together, I had several conversations with Jonas, I taught him to play chess and I helped him to get his GED… in agreement with what he spoke many times with me about over the course of those months on this subject of not living to see his 21st birthday, Jonas died in a gang shootout a few short years later…

As it pertained to Jonas, I am convinced that if he had placed his will and agreement in the hope that I was offering him, it could have absolutely altered his destination and extended his life well beyond 21 years old. But he had a pre-determined agreement that he was not going to live and as a result made repetitive decisions that ultimately landed him in the very place that he expected to land…The grave…and becoming another statistic of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy can go both ways!

Earlier in this chapter I stated, If you agree that you are worthless, you will act worthless. If you agree that you cannot do something, you will not be able to do it. If you agree that you will fail, you will fail… But I also firmly believe that the opposite is true and by changing your agreement you can literally change your life! If you change your agreement, refuse to buy into the lies of worthlessness spoken over you and embrace who God says you are as a son or daughter of the King, then you will act like you are! If you refuse to agree that you cannot do something and place your agreement in what God says about you, you will walk as someone who Can do ALL things through Christ! If you refuse to agree with feelings of failure and instead choose to place your agreement in Gods Word that states that you are MORE THAN a conqueror, then you will carry yourself in a direction that allows for decisions to be made that can alter the course of your destiny.

If you expect nothing, then you will NOT place yourself in situations where something can happen. Ultimately, what I am speaking about is literally placing your will and agreement in God’s Word which is a necessary aspect of faith in God… and this postures you to be able to receive the blessings that God has intended for you. I believe that your will, agreement and subsequent actions are exactly what the bible is talking about in James 2:17 when it says that faith without works is dead…

James 2:17 (Amplified Bible)
17So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

It is our will, agreement and actions, lining up with Gods word that gives our faith legs to run on!

Why Faith?

The reason that placing our will, agreement and actions in line with Gods word is so important is because our faith in God and His Word is the catalyst for tapping into the power of our relationship with God and ultimately embracing our God ordained destiny. If Gods promises are a machine gun, faith is the trigger and your will and agreement are the necessary component that has to squeeze the trigger before the power can ever be unleashed!

Hebrews 11:6 (New International Version, ©2011)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

James 1:4-7 (Amplified Bible)
4But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
5If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.
6Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.
7For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord,

The way that we give action to our faith is by first hearing what God says about our circumstances. Secondly, placing our agreement, will and words behind what God says about us and our circumstances. Thirdly, refusing to place our agreement or to even allow for the voices that contradict what God is saying to have influence in our lives. And finally, living out actions like we agree with what Gods Word says.

So if God says, You can get through this even though every time in your past you were unable to, rather than place your agreement in your past failure, recognize that God is the difference maker in your life and choose to refuse to speak words of defeat, which ultimately set you up to be defeated (see self-fulfilling prophecy).

Instead, place your agreement in Gods word by lining up your self-fulfilling prophecies, words and agreements with what God says about your circumstances. If, the power of life and death are tied to the words we speak and the agreements we tie ourselves to with our words and faith like Proverbs 18:21 says, then choose to speak life-giving words and make life-giving agreements.

Proverbs 18:21 (Amplified Bible)
21Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

Deuteronomy 30:19 (New International Version, ©2011)
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

NOW CHOOSE LIFE!

I believe that life is a choice!  You are not destined to fail regardless of your past and circumstances, as a matter of fact you have every power in the universe at your disposal to empower you to succeed if you will line your agreement up with God and His Word.  And in that place you can embrace truth, place your agreement in that truth and ultimately Choose Life in a way that you may have never experienced before…

Meditate upon this for a while until its truth begins to resonate in your spirit because implementing this understanding sets us up for success in the next chapter…Renouncing past agreements and breaking the curses that bring death.

I AM Inspired

I AM inspired

As I’m coming to the end of this book, I find myself reflecting on so much that has transpired in this season… So many ups and downs, so many tests of my character, so many opportunities to “give up or GET UP”.  It’s interesting for me to look back over the course of the past few years and to see how much I have learned and as a direct result, grown.  It has been these God lessons that have inspired me to document the journey in a season where many times I did not feel like picking up a pen.

In a previous chapter, I addressed a conversation I had with God where I was talking to Him and asked, “Don’t you think I’ve been in this season a long time”, only to have him respond with a very direct and unexpected, “You had a lot to unlearn”.

I believe that I’m finally on the “other side” of that season in my life…Not that I don’t still have things to “learn and unlearn” but that a new chapter seems to be beginning as I am now seeing multiple doors opening and opportunities presenting themselves that I’m confident this past season has equipped me to handle.

As I spoke into a Television camera on Sunday, addressing a live audience all around the world, my mind was flooded with a myriad of memories.  In a matter of seconds I reflected on how confident and fearless I used to be and how several circumstances over an extended season stripped that from me in what I believe was an attempt of the devil to not only end my life but also to derail my destiny.  But in true God form, He worked those things together for my good and used those circumstances that were intended for my destruction, to actually build me.

As I reflected, I thought about how God has restored and continues to restore a confidence in me that is now so much less a “Self-Confidence” but “God-Confidence”.  I have come to realize that it is HE who has begun a work in me and HE that will complete it as I surrender to His will.  And that leads me to one more moment of transparency and expose’ of weakness, trusting that it will offer you strength as it relates to your own circumstances.  Some of what I am about to share I’ve never shared with anyone but my wife.

I’m not any different than most, in that Transparency for me has been a difficult pill to swallow.  I don’t like to admit or acknowledge failure, weakness or difficulty, yet I realize that transparency has been the MOST significant tool of ministry that God has ever used in me.  Like so many of you reading this, I have struggled in the past with feeling guarded concerning my emotions and not wanting to reveal areas where I felt wounded.  But, truth be told, every chapter in this book was written in one of those seasons as I determined to declare the Word of God over my circumstances and encourage myself in Him while trusting that what I have written would also be instrumental in your development and progress.  And I feel like these final chapters needed to be written from that same perspective…I can say confidently,  every chapter thus far was without a doubt a revelation exposed through blood, sweat and many times… tears.

I have found through my experiences that the Devil is methodical in his attempts at derailing our destiny.  Like a chess match he will intentionally plan several moves ahead and will often use the pawns or “little pieces” to set up the greater failures one small move at a time, many times not even revealing what the set up was until the hammer falls and we see everything in hindsight from a 20/20 perspective.  I addressed some of what I am referring to with my own life and the issue of confidence in an earlier chapter, Embracing the Mamma’s Boy, but I can say that the Devil didn’t stop attacking the area of confidence with one move…as a matter of fact there have been several attacks since then that I had to overcome.  And I’d like to share a few more examples from my life with you in this chapter to model how the attack of the enemy comes against us as believers and how the Word of God is applied in those situations…

As explained in previous chapters, having an attempt made on my life in many ways sent my world into what felt like a chaotic downward spiral.  Physically I was a mess, not being able to accomplish many of the normal daily functions that I previously took for granted, walking, driving, making my own dinner…etc.  In addition, I also lost my job, benefits, even my ability to work in familiar conditions.

Emotionally, I struggled more than I ever had as I worked through the difficulties of physical therapy and psychological therapy, both of which at the time did not seem to adequately address the needs that I felt that I had.  Not to mention the attacks on my perspective of what it meant to be a man and provider for my family.  I felt very broken and inadequate… These were all foundations for some of the future attacks as the battlefield for the mental assault on my confidence and self-esteem was established.

One area that I never previously struggled with, was my ability to communicate or speak publicly.  In years past I was one of the most self-assured communicators that I knew.  Even in college I took a public speaking class and aced it without ever writing a speech.  I recall several times, on the day I was to make a classroom presentation, writing an outline in class while other students performed their speeches and then getting up in front of the class with nothing but a sloppy outline and not only “winging it” but “NAILING IT”!

This confidence proved to be a two sided coin and could be interpreted as blessing and a curse as I can also recall seasons of laziness, where I did not invest adequate “study time” into a sermon that I was to preach as a Youth Pastor or Associate Pastor or even as an Evangelist because I knew that I would be able to once again rely on that communication gift and even with very little time invested, I would be able to pull off a decent “performance”.

I believe that when God told me that I had a lot to unlearn, self-assuredness was a significant aspect of what I had to unlearn.  There is a difference between having head knowledge about a subject and having heart knowledge about it…and what I’m about to say, I have always known in my head but I don’t know that I understood it in my heart until the past few years revealed it to me.

Every day is a gift, and I realize now, in a much more intense way, that every opportunity that God presents for us to speak into peoples lives should be recognized to potentially have eternal significance and/or consequence.  In years past, I simply didn’t weigh in my heart the depth of not hearing from God before addressing people.  I knew what the scripture said and how to present something that was “good” and then, relied on my gift to carry me through…and although God was still faithful to minister to people IN SPITE of me I was not fulfilling my end with any form of excellence.

In hindsight, it comes as no surprise that while I was already dealing with issues regarding confidence, that the one area I still felt “Strong” in was also brought under attack in three occurrences that played a significant role in me struggling with the area that I believe my future and destiny (from a ministry perspective) were tied to…Communication.

The first was a Sunday morning.  My pastor, who is internationally recognized among top communicators and worship leaders, had the flu.  As is his M/O he was still at church and was going to preach even though he felt horrible.  Just before the offering he turned to me sitting next to him on the front row and said, “Aaron, will you greet the people and receive the offering, I need to save my strength”.

I didn’t even bat an eye. Before joining our church I had been a youth pastor and/or an associate pastor for 9 years and had conducted that part of the service hundreds of times.   So, I simply said, “SURE!”

When it was time to receive the offering, I took the microphone, jumped up on the stage, and in front of hundreds of people I froze!  For the first time in my life, I completely drew a blank in front of a crowd!  I looked out at the congregation, I looked at my pastor and for a brief second I literally considered running out of the church!  (which now seems very funny but at the time felt devastating… )

Then I heard it, in the awkward silence, a woman in the second or third row said the words that I had heard many times over the years as someone had difficulty with a special song or didn’t remember the words in the church Christmas play…but never in reference to me…!  Lil’ miss second row whispers out…”Help him Jesus…” and for the first time in my public speaking life, I was the “Help him Jesus guy”!

After an awkward 30 seconds (which seemed like an hour) of trying to get my bearings, I was able to complete the task that I was asked to attend to, but it felt like a train wreck to me!  It was no help that one of the pastors on staff (a good friend that was just joking with me) came up after the service pretending to be an airplane with outstretched arms crashing into the ground while laughing and then asking “What in the world happened to you Aaron…?!” I had no answer for what happened, but this situation literally plagued my mind for months as I began questioning my ability to do what I previously believed God had called me to do.  Although this occurrence was frequently in the back of my mind, I did my best to not think about it and figured that it was a bit of a fluke and wouldn’t likely happen again…Until IT DID!

On a Friday night during a special service, my pastor turned to me out of the blue and said, “Aaron, can you go and greet our online audience?”  Which basically entailed taking the microphone, walking over to the television camera and saying hello to everyone watching.  This time, I immediately reflected on my “last failure” and as I approached the camera I became more and more uneasy.  When the red light came on letting me know that I was “Live”, once again I drew a blank and had difficulty even completing a thought.  As I recall I gave the wrong website address, the wrong email address for contacting us… I may have even gave them the wrong church name…I stumbled over nearly every word and I was completely humiliated!  I hid it well, but this failure, after beating myself up as bad as I had the last time, floored me!  The first time I wrote off as a fluke, but after this time, I felt like I was seeing a pattern…and at that Y in the road, my already damaged confidence plummeted.  I questioned my calling and whether or not I was even pursuing something that was “God ordained”.  The devil made sure to keep it very alive in my mind and I struggled daily with feelings of frustration and inadequacy.

The final blow came a few months later, adding insult to what was already significant injury.  I was in our youth chapel with a member of our staff.  We were attempting to watch a video for a service that we were collaborating on.  Our youth chapel has a HUGE video screen where song lyrics, graphics and videos are projected for the youth services, and this seemed a good place to watch the video so that we could get an adequate feel for what we were desiring to present on the big screen the following Sunday.  While accessing the video clip on the computer, the staff member clicked on an icon in the computer to play a video and by mistake, the video footage from a few months ago of me stumbling over my words in front of a live audience came on and I had to relive one of the greatest feelings of failure that I had ever experienced… He fumbled with the computer, attempting to get quickly off of the screen, but by that time the damage had been done.  Not only had I experienced it the first time, but now I had seen it with my own eyes.  It was never intended that I see that by whoever put it there, but I did… and at that point, I also had to contemplate the reasons that the footage had been taken off of our server, made a copy of and placed on a huge screen in a different part of the church for others to view and to put it lightly, I felt horrible.

Let’s just say, the devil had a hay day with that one in my head…Although, I KNEW what I was feeling and thinking was not even realistic because I was dealing with people who loved me, I warred with the most improbable thoughts as I found myself feeling betrayed and exploited.  I pictured people laughing while watching me fail in bigger than life form, I felt anger, I felt sadness, I felt a lot of things…but a resounding Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure was what I heard constantly in my head!

Isn’t it typical, in circumstances where we do not know the answer to “why” , that the devil makes sure to try to get us to focus on the absolute WORST case scenario, regardless of how unrealistic that perspective may be…?  I had to reel in those thoughts quickly and not allow them to take root, particularly the ones leading me to feel offended.  I knew that these thoughts were not sensible and were intended to be a distraction and if they took root that the results could be destructive.

In reality, I realized, even as I was going through it, that this entire scenario was orchestrated in an attempt to continue to further discourage me, but it was still an incredible struggle to not feel disheartened…And, at that point, I pondered the possibility of giving up and throwing in the towel all together…Anyone been there?  Of course you have… We all have…

While meditating on this subject I was reminded of a story from the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter 11 we see the family tree of Abraham (Abram at this time because it was before his covenant with God).  Here are the last couple verses from that chapter in the Message version of the bible:

^27-28 This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Haran had Lot. Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.

²⁹ Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram’s wife was Sarai; Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.

³⁰ Sarai was barren; she had no children.

³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram’s wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.

³² Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.

There is SO much that can be considered in this passage!  Abraham’s father Terah, had a son named Haran who died.  Although this was not elaborated upon any further, as a parent, placing myself in his shoes and imagining how overwhelming the death of his son must have been for him, I believe it would be safe to assume that this was an unplanned event in Terah’s life that rocked him to the core!

It is interesting to me that the bible says that Terah set out for Canaan.  Although there is no biblical reference for why he set out from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan, I think, based upon God’s direct instruction to Abraham in the first verse of the following chapter to “Leave for a land that I will show you”, that Terah was at least being led by God if not directed by God to go to Canaan.

Gen 12:1-6 (The Message Version)

¹ God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.

^2-3 I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”

^4-6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.

A point of particular interest to me in the short story of Terah is what happened in route to the “destination” and perhaps even fulfilling his God ordained destiny.  Terah, the patriarch of his family, reached a place called Haran. Now, whether this is a place that was named after his deceased son, or a place his son was named after, it shared the name of what was likely the single most impacting event of his life, the death of his son and it WAS where he settled.

Genesis 11:31

…set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.

How many times does the memory of our single most impacting life event effect how or if we progress to pursue our God ordained destiny?!  How many times have we set out to the place where God has called us only to settle at the point in the journey where we are reminded of our own limitations, inadequacy, failures, or pain?

My mind immediately questions, What if Terah had not settled?  Would he have gone down in biblical history as one of the mighty men of faith?  Would God have been referred to for generations to come as the God of Terah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  Terahs entire life is summed up in six verses…But, what would have been his legacy if he had continued on through the painful memory of his greatest relational failure?  What if…?  I believe that these are at the very least logical questions to ponder.

Each of us has to face our place of Haran in our journey of life and each of us have to decide whether or not we will set up camp and settle or press through in those places.

The choice is ours.  We must determine that we will not be defined by our failures or willing to stop short of our God intended destiny!  In my life I have come to realize that my abilities are limited and there are areas that I fall short, BUT my bible says:

1 John 4:4 (Amplified version)

…He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.

Philippians 4:13 (Amplified Bible)

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

There is NOTHING that will derail our destiny if we will determine to press on through the adversity!  It is God who has begun the work in you and it is He who will complete it!

We simply must align our thoughts and intentions with God’s direction.  When contrary voices or memories or failures come against what we believe to be Gods directive, we must stand in the belief and understanding that God loves us, He believes in us, He placed destiny in each one of us and we will overcome!!!

Proverbs 23:7

“as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

How do you see yourself?  We must choose to see ourselves as God sees us!  In Him we are MORE than sufficient!  God makes up in every area where we lack! If we are not careful we will view ourselves in light of our circumstances and failures and human inadequacy, but God sees us from the perspective of the work in us that is completed through Christ!

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Several times during the course of these chapters I have written about how we establish the Word of God as our final authority and truth!  When our circumstances contradict the Word of God we simply go to His Word, find out what it says about what we are contending with and then stand upon the truth of His Word in spite of our circumstances… When the devil comes against your mind attempting to derail destiny we are to take that Word and apply it to our circumstances and CRUSH the devils warped philosophy concerning the outcome of our future!

2 Corinthians 10:5

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.

We are who God says we are…PERIOD!

I am not anybody special and God is not a respecter of persons… What He has done for me, He will do for anyone who calls upon Him…He simply is faithful to His Word.

As I bring this to a close I would just like to encourage you to press forward even if it seems to be at a snails pace at times… Allow God to teach you through His Word and your circumstances and He will take those things that the devil intended for your destruction and use them as the foundation for fulfilling your intended purposes.  He is FOREVER FAITHFUL!  God placed you on this earth for a divinely inspired purpose!  He can’t wait til’ you get to see what that looks like!  You’re gonna love it!

… As I spoke into a Television camera on Sunday addressing a live audience all around the world, my mind was flooded with a myriad of memories…I smiled as I left Haran behind and set out toward my land of promise…

…I will fulfill my destiny!

I AM Inspired

www.AaronDavisMinistries.com

Voices…

 

Listening to Voices…

 

“The day has come where you do not have to fear the words of people Aaron…You don’t have to worry about how people evaluate you and talk to you…”

 

That is a quote from a man whose ministry was very instrumental in my progress during one of the darkest seasons of my life.  (Thanks Dr. Sandy Kulkin)  Recently, I have replayed over and over and over those words that he spoke to me a few years ago as he encouraged and spoke into me some valuable wisdom and direction from God…

 

Today, paralleling the quote above, I have been considering the subject of “voices”.  There are so many “voices” speaking into our lives at any given time.  And it amazes me how the voices often influence our perspective and outlook (sometimes even years down the road)…

 

Some of us have had the negative voices of parental figures bombarding our existence and still manipulating and molding us… “You are NOT,You will NEVER, You are ONLY…” Sometimes, even from the grave they degrade and belittle, and we can’t seem to shake the feelings that maybe the voices were right and “I am what they said I am…”

 

Others of us have had the picture perfect parental affirmation but still hear the cruel taunts of classmates that so tormented us during such formative years…And now, even years down the road, we still struggle with the insecurities that were birthed in a season long passed… “Fat,Ugly, Stupid, Nerd, Unpopular, Dork, Sissy, Panzee…”

 

Still others have been the perfect student, with wonderful life memories of School and family dinners and Christmas mornings…But there was an abusive spouse or relationship that blindsided us and robbed us of security and self-worth over months and years of abuse… “Worthless, Unlovable,Unworthy, Disgusting…”  It happens in some capacity to nearly ALL of us at some point in life!

 

People, words, intimidation, manipulation,hatefulness…Voices that still reverberate in our mind as if we were hearing them for the first time… Words that cut us to the soul and left a scar that is seemingly always just a thought away from resurfacing… Voices…

 

It’s amazing the damage that can be done when we buy into what the negative “voices” are telling us and accept it as our reality!

 

Over the past few years, I’ve also had to deal with, what”seemed like” my OWN voice in my mind telling me things that no one has ever said but that I felt about myself… “Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Worthless, Failure…”  I struggled with feelings and insecurities (voices) that I would have never assumed would be an issue in my life a few years ago. Yet, there they were!  I was out of work, my family was struggling financially, my wife was going to work every day while I stayed home with my infant son…The voices said,  “I wasn’t the provider that I should be… I wasn’t the man of my house… I was failing my wife and my family… I wasn’t fulfilling my place as the priest in my home…I was a sucky husband, I was a loser…” Over and over, day after day, these were where my thoughts would dwell if I even allowed them to wander for a moment…and the voices wore on me…ultimately leaving me to feel more than inadequate.

 

How does this kind of thing happen to a guy who had such confidence a few years before?  The faith preacher…?  The SWAT officer…?  How does one go from one end of the scale to the other…?  I’ll tell ya… I listened to the wrong VOICES!  I bought in to a LIE!

 

Yes, the voices that I was listening to confirmed what SEEMED to be my present reality… but what seemed to be my present reality did not make it the TRUTH!  Life is full of issues that look one way from one perspective only to be contradicted when presented with a different angle or element of REAL truth!  When light shines on a previously unilluminated or at least poorly illuminated surface the perspective changes as the light reveals what may have been previously hidden or masked in the darkness…

 

I had to make a determination…Whose voice was I going to listen to?  Was I going to listen to the voices of the critics who called me everything from an “anti-christ” to a “false prophet” (because of my stand on the love of God and redemption)?  Was I going to listen to the voices of some peers who didn’t “believe” in me?  Was I going to listen to the negative voices in my own head (which I understand were not MY voice but simply a lie from the enemy that I was choosing to listen to).  Was I going to listen to the voices of the ones who I know Love me and want what is best for me? Or was I going to listen to God, who ultimately has the absolute perspective of what “Truth” is for my life because He is the one who has ordained my destiny?

 

I had to make a choice!  I came to realize that the voices of conflict and contradiction will ALWAYS be there but their power to influence rests in our willingness to buy the lie or pursue the truth!  There is a place where we MUST decide that we will pursue the Voice of TRUTH at all cost! Because, ultimately, if we don’t, it may cost ALL!

 

With so many Voices speaking over us… We have to determine that there is ONE voice that we will listen to above ALL others!  That Voice is the Voice of God and can be heard in many different ways but is most easily discerned through the Voice of His Word…

 

When we want to know what God says about us…How He feels about us… Where we stand with Him…Who we are to Him…Who He created us to be… We can find that Voice so clearly spoken in the bible! I’ve heard it said, “Your life is moving in the direction of your dominant thoughts..”  I find it interesting, from my own experience that the voices that contradicted the Word of God got louder and more dominant in my thoughts when I did not meditate on His Word and His Voice…If I did not make the bible a primary voice and a part of my thought process…the other voices dominated…and my life mirrored my thoughts…

 

This is an example of why Psalm 119:105 says “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path…”  In times of darkness, there will definitely be voices calling our focus away from the light… but it is the Word of God that illuminates the path and confirms our direction.

 

I determined, in my own life, that God’s Word is TRUTH and the final authority…Understanding that TRUTH and applying it to my life was and is ultimately the catalyst for my freedom!  (John 8:32) …You shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall make you free!

 

I have come to the realization that Jesus IS the Way, the TRUTH and the LIFE (John 14:6)  I have accepted and applied that TRUTH and His Voice is the ULTIMATE authority in my life!

 

The voices that speak and contradict what I know to be the TRUTH are lies… The bible is clear on the fact that the Devil is the father of lies!  So when we are listening to voices that contradict what we discover in the Word to be TRUTH, then we can be confident that the source is not credible because the one speaking is a known, unreliable, LIAR!

 

Yes, I am implying that it is the Devil at the root of the lies, guilt and condemnation that we so often feel and buy in to… I’m convinced of it!  He will reiterate the voices and accusations from your past…He will use the insecurities and feelings of failures to speak to your mind and attempt to distract you from what will ultimately cause you to progress, succeed and SET YOU FREE if you will grasp it (TRUTH)…He will even attempt to make you think it is YOU who are thinking it!  I intentionally used the words earlier, “Seemed like my own voice in my mind”, because, sometimes I believe that the Devil plants thoughts and voices in our minds and it seems like a perspective of truth from our own subconscious…but it only SEEMS that way until held to the light of the TRUTH which reveals the fallibility of the presented argument that comes from a lying, deceiving, and manipulating enemy who is hellbent on your destruction.  DON’TBUY THE LIE!

 

With all the “voices” coming from every direction…Commit your focus to the ONE that loves you! There is a Voice of Truth and that Voice speaks Life and will set you FREE!

 

If you can dig it…Say Word!