Over the last four weeks we’ve explored the various aspects of New Covenant deliverance from strongholds. We’ve seen the foundation of what strongholds are, how they come, and how they fall. And last week, we began looking at how to attain freedom from strongholds through Christ— and that’s a crucial distinction.
The draw of Christian performance, legalism, and religiosity can be very strong. And oftentimes, we resort to self-effort to attempt to break free from strongholds or when we feel pressure from circumstances.
Today we will conclude our series on New Covenant deliverance by seeing how to apply what we have learned in daily life, to break free from strongholds, through Christ, without any self getting in the way.
In last week’s video we began looking at strongholds, and how we can have freedom from them, not by efforts, but by resting and receiving the grace of Christ through our reborn identity in Jesus Christ.
Strongholds can be utterly debilitating, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Even if they don’t appear to be that harmful at first, the doubt, fear, and uncertainty they cause can be quite costly in the long term.
Although many of us can recognize at least some part of a stronghold when it grips us… we know on the inside that something just isn’t right, we also, at the same time feel powerless to do anything about it. We fight, struggle and try to break free, and we might experience some kind of success for a day, week, or even a month, but then we find ourselves right back where we started.
This vicious cycle can cause people to doubt the efficacy of their salvation; to just give up and throw-in the towel and become depressed, and disillusioned.
However, as we began to uncover last week, our victory through Christ is greater than our perceptions. And today we continue exploring how our new identity in Christ gives us freedom from strongholds.
Do you have a nagging thought or feeling that you just can’t seem to shake? Perhaps an addiction, or sin that seems to persist despite your best efforts? Some camps within Christianity would claim that this is a sign of demon possession or that you need a spiritual intervention, usually in the form of a special deliverance or healing.
Such rhetoric can breed a lot of fear and uncertainty, leading to thinking that there’s something wrong with you, or that you’re not even saved.
Countless Christians have lost hope or given up entirely because of these ideas; so today we will explore how to truly break strongholds, through our union with Christ.
We recently concluded a series on obtaining spiritual victory, and we’ve learned quite a bit about how to stand our spiritual ground, and not allow a defeated foe to trample us under foot. It is a crucial lesson to learn how to stand and fight when it comes to spiritual battle and victory. It is equally important, however, to learn how to experience, enjoy and truly possess the victory once it is obtained.
Today we will be exploring the vital topic of possessing your inheritance in victory, through Jesus Christ, because this is what the spiritual battle is truly about. Let’s get started!
Many times throughout the New Testament writings in scripture, Jesus says to “Fear not”, “do not fear”, or “don’t be afraid” – it’s good advice… especially now with so many global catastrophes and viral scares going around. However the advice to not be afraid really doesn’t mean anything without a reason why… if someone just tells you to not be afraid, you may wonder why, or think that they were crazy! But when you have a reason, then it becomes simple.
So today we’re going to look at some examples of Jesus, and what the scriptures have to say regarding fear, and what we find will be eye-opening.
Welcome to the fourth part of our series on changing your lenses, your perspective of your circumstances, your identity in Christ, and of God Himself. And it is this last item – your perspective of God Himself – that we are going to focus on today. And this is probably going to be one of the most difficult discussions that we have ever had… not because it is difficult to study, but because for many of us (myself included) it requires us to take an honest and hard look at what we truly believe about God; and repenting (changing our mind) regrading our beliefs accordingly.
So join me today, as we have a tough, but necessary discussion regarding changing our lenses of God.
Throughout my years in the ministry, I’ve had a lot of conversations with people regarding healing. Healing and finances are actually the two most popular topics – and we have numerous resources on both because of it.
What I have experienced in my time, is that people place healing on a strange pedestal, as if it were somehow more difficult to receive than other blessings, or even more difficult than receiving salvation itself!
This is another classic example of our human mind, reasoning and theology complicating what God has made simple. Healing is not as complicated as we make it out to be; and it’s actually easier than we think!
Join me today, as we explore, how to easily receive healing, as a gift from God, in Christ Jesus.
I had a conversation with a gentlemen once who asked me what I did [for a job] – and I told him that I was a Gospel minister – to which he paused awkwardly, and then said “Oh, I’m not religious”. So I chuckled and said, “That’s okay neither am I!” – after that we each went our separate ways.
It wasn’t until three days later, that we met again and he said to me in a puzzled voice: “What did you mean, when you said that you weren’t religious?!”.
You see, religion is not at all the same thing, as having a relationship, a union with Christ. And sometimes I think that we use the words and say these phrases, but haven’t really stopped to consider what they mean, or what the implications of them are.
It may also surprise you to hear that a great number of Christians also do not understand these differences. And so we are going to explore this today, and look at how the mentality of religion, is actually quite backwards to the truth of the Gospel of Christ taught in the scripture. And right-away I need to mention that when I say “backwards mentality” – I am not using that term as slang for stupid or unintelligent; not at all…
What I am saying, is that there is a religious mentality among many Christians, that is actually 180 degrees opposite to what the scriptures actually teach, and what the Gospel of Christ actually says. And this is what we will be exploring (and exposing) in today’s study.
If you have been viewing the studies here for any length of time, you have probably heard me mention that Jesus has made complete redemption available, and that He has made complete provision for your spirit, your soul, your body and even your finances. And indeed we have studied about His provision for your spirit, His provision for your body, and His provision for your finances.
Yet it occurred to me that we had not really explored His provision for your soul (that is your mind and emotions), in quite some time. And this area of His provision is just as important, just as powerful, and just as freeing as the others; and so we will be looking at it today in this study.