The absoluteness and formulaic way this reads makes me uncomfortable, but there's truth here to.. Deep and strong truth. Find it for yourself:
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One of the important things God is saying to His Church, His children is the message of His Father’s love for us. It is a renewed call from God to come to Him in a new personal and intimate relationship.But we have repeatedly seen that a majority of Christians have a real problem with truly accepting that they can have an intimate relationship with Him.
We do not believe we really are “worthy” of this sort of love that Jesus has for us. Our identity, who we really are, is flawed. We really do not believe – I mean believe deep within us, at our core – that God really loves us.
We might believe at some level because we know it is Bible but that belief is not really at the core of who we are.
So, in this entry we are going to deal with one of the common issues that disguises and thwarts our ability to really believe who we truly are in Jesus. We are going to deal with the Shame – Fear – Control Stronghold.
God says we are not to be ignorant of the schemes of the devil. So we are going to expose one of his most ancient and effective strategies. You will not be the same. Not because we are such great ministers or have such great ministry skills but because Jesus wants you and us to be FREE!
We have been trained in a ministry method called
Restoring the Foundations which is an integrated method of providing inner healing and deliverance. We will be using the four main ministry issues to deal with this S-F-C Stronghold.
Shame Fear Control..Comes out of the second commandment;
Exo 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Definition of a curse:A Biblical curse is a penalty assigned by God for violating His commandments, statues, etc. A Curse is being “empowered to fail”, a Blessings is being “empowered to succeed.” (Ken Copeland)Curses are words spoken, with some form of spiritual authority (either good or evil), that set in motion something that will go on generation after generation. Behind the words is a spiritual power (God or satan). (Derek Prince)Where do curses come from? – God, Others and Self
GodDeut. 11:26-28 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.
OthersMatt. 27:25And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
SelfExample: “I cannot start the day without my first cup of coffee.”Phil. 4:13; Paul believes in “self-blessing,” not in “self-cursing.” “I can do all things…”
Good NewsGod has provided the way of freedom from all the effects of SOFC’s and our own sin. It is appropriated by faith. We break generational sins by faith that God’s promises are true, that Jesus has canceled our debt.
God’s SolutionLev. 26:40 God requires that we confess (acknowledge) our sin and the sins of our fathers, humble ourselves, and receive His remedy, i.e., His sacrifice.1 Jn. 1:9 If we confess our sins and turn from it (repent) and God will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Gal. 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.
Ungodly BeliefsBeliefs, decisions, attitudes, agreements, judgments, expectations, vows, and oaths that do not agree with God’s Word, His nature or His Character.Lies that have been formed in us since childhood about ourselves, others and God.Beliefs formed from hurts, traumas, negative experiences, and words people say to us.Beliefs formed from the facts (pain) or our experiences that are real.
Rom. 12:1-2I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.Facts vs. Truth
Soul Spirit HurtsDefinition• Hurts of the soul and / or spirit of man that are carried and experienced within a person.• SSH are invisible wounds.• They simmer, stifle, and sometimes shut a person down completely – unless dealt with.• They have a similar action in our soul / and or spirit as disease has to our body.
Some Facts• Begin in the family• Affect the entire person• Cause restricted emotional growth• Cause ongoing vulnerability• Cause anger/resentment toward God• Affect the entire family• Distort identity and purpose• Cause Shame• Cause hurts in other people
Biblical ReferencesLk. 4:18 Jesus: “…He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,”Ps. 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Information• They enter through “open doors.” I.e., they have legal ground (Eph. 4:27; and give no opportunity to the devil.”)• They come down family lines.• They are invisible spiritual entities with minds, emotions and wills of their own, in league with, and under the control of satan. They are out to do his bidding and to torment the people of God (Derek Prince)• Their purpose is to prevent or hinder salvation for the unsaved, and maturity for the Christian.• They interject their thoughts into our thought stream, so that we will accept them as our own.• The lie to us and help us lie to ourselves and to others.• They do not play fair, they have no mercy.• They manifest by causing our behavior to be what their function is, i.e., anger, bitterness, etc.
Biblical ReferenceEx. 23:29-31; “But I will not drive them out in a single year, …little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. (God’s strategy for deliverance)1 Jn. 3:8; The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.Mk. 16:17; And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; …
This ministry is a first step toward a life-long process of becoming like Jesus.
Shame – Fear – Control
What are we talking about here? In the introduction I said that it is an ancient strategy of the enemy. Adam and Eve. Remember that after the snake got them to partake of the forbidden fruit God came into the garden for His evening walk with them.
Adams response to God’s inquiry as to why he was hiding. “I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” (Gen. 3:10). Earlier in Gen. 2 it said of Adam and Eve that they were naked but not ashamed. So here we see they are naked but now have shame and that led to fear and the fear led to a controlling action, “I hid myself”. I do not want to allow my flaw (the sin nature) to be exposed. We see in this very early encounter, Shame – Fear – Control working to separate man from God.
This is a grouping of several demonic strongholds that operate in a large percentage of believers that we and those who have taught us the RTF process have seen.
What is Shame? It is the awful sense of “being uniquely and hopelessly flawed.” It leaves a person feeling different and less valuable than other human beings.
Shame is self-oriented. It says, “there is something wrong with me.”
Definition: Webster 1828 Ed.
SHAME, n.
1. A painful sensation excited by a consciousness of guilt, or of having done something which injures reputation; or by of that which nature or modesty prompts us to conceal. Shame is particularly excited by the disclosure of actions which, in the view of men, are mean and degrading. Hence it is often or always manifested by a downcast look or by blushes, called confusion of face.
2. The cause or reason of shame; that which brings reproach, and degrades a person in the estimation of others. Thus an idol is called a shame.
3. Reproach; ignominy; derision; contempt.
Ye have born the shame of the heathen. Ezek 36.
4. The parts which modesty requires to be covered.
5. Dishonor; disgrace.
It is not guilt. Guilt is knowing we have done something wrong. It tells us we have made a mistake.
Guilt is action-oriented. It says, “I did something.”
Shame is a common problem for many of us, and I include myself, where we have accepted the lie that “this is who I am.” It strikes at our core identity. It is the worst kind of False Identity.
Why is it so bad? It is because we have entered into an agreement with the enemy as to who we are – we have agreed with the lie. Why is this bad? Matthew 18:19
AgreementMat 18:19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven.
God has created us as independent willed beings. He so much honors our will - our decisions – our agreements that He will honor them – even when they are with the enemy!
Is that scriptural? I can say with out a doubt – yes.
Joshua 9 gives us a story about the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites were part of the Ammorite peoples – one of the Cannanite tribes that God said to utterly destroy.You probably know the story. The Gibeonites were crafty and posed as coming from a great distance. The Israelites checked them out in a natural way. Looked at their worn cloths and stale bread but they did not inquire of the Lord.
Then when the lie was exposed and many wanted to kill them they could not do it because of their oath toward the Gibeonite people. Even though they were the “enemy” they were allowed to live.
What was the result? 2 Sam. 21: About 400 years later. David inquires of the Lord as to why there is a famine in the land. God answers that it is because Saul had killed the Gibeonites in his zeal to cleanse Israel. Saul violated the covenant with the Gibeonites and Israel paid the price after Saul was dead and gone! God takes agreements seriously.
And through the cross, by the shed blood of Jesus, we can break our covenants with the enemy.
So, every UGB we have is a covenant with the enemy but God had provided a way to break these unrighteous, lie-sourced covenants.
Shame is a deeper level lie. The lie “I am a shameful person” has strength to it. This sort of thing can resist the prayer of others – especially if that prayer is not focused to the identity issue.
This progression of interlocking oppression forms a stronghold.
Stonghold
A fortified place dominated by a particular group – fortress is a center for military might.
Pro 21:22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
For our purposes a stronghold is an intertwining of demonic forces, self-sins, UGB’s, and SSH’s that work toward keeping a person separated from God and from their God-given purpose.
A three fold cord is not easily broken.This stronghold wraps itself around our true identity often in such a way as we really do not know our true selves. And it is common to see a reaction to the exposure of these things to have a real fear. “I do not know who I am without this.”
But the real you has always been there and will emerge and grow as it is given room to do so.
As we deal with this in our lives the masking shrinks and our true identity emerges.
Roots of Shame
Some experiences that cause shame:
• Ongoing Rejection – especially from early life• Scape-Goat – Example M & GM always blaming them• Physical Abuse – especially• Neglect• Violence• Shame by association• Sexual Abuse• Failed dreams and vision• Physical deformity
Four lifestyle behaviors that are coping mechanisms
1) Angry (Argumentative)2) Condemnation & depression – cycle through low grade depression3) Apologetic4) Passivity
Characteristics
Striving and Driving (Perfectionism)
Religiosity – trying to convince the world you are Ok
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “why am I doing this?”
A Shamed person tries to keep the truth from themselves
Shame based – you feel bad and that you are beyond God’s help.
Attitude – I am not going protect my shame & to be defensive – do not worry about itWe all have some Shame based behaviors. Ask the Lord to show you.• Then ask God to help with what is identified• God gives the power to break these things off your life• Get rid of the demons – then recognize the lies as they come
