It’s not enough to experience God. To know that he is real. You must surrender to Him.
Before my life in Christ, it was hard to understand why I needed Him and now that He is Lord of my life, I can’t imagine life without Him!
Demons enter quickly and leave quickly. The anointing casts out demons.
Strongholds are built over time and get demolished over time. The Truth breaks down Strongholds.
What are Strongholds?
The enemy builds strongholds in our mind over time. If we accept his lies, over time this builds a fortress.
The presence of Truth does not set us free. The application of it does.
Reading the Bible is good, but I can also read the instruction manual of my vacuum cleaner. If I don’t put these instructions to action, it does me no good.
Deliverance unties your hands so you can fight for yourself.
God is a God of process. He could have created this world in one day, but He took seven.
When I make a piece of art, I take my time and install each layer. I let things settle in and see where they go and build from there. I believe it’s the same in the spirit realm. God lets us settle into our deliverance and then allows us to pursue further. He leaves things up to us.
If I had an immediate deliverance how could God build my character, tenacity or even intimacy with Him?
The devil builds strongholds in our minds but only when we apply God’s truth, can we break them down.
What is the difference between a Stronghold and a demon?
A stronghold is a network of thoughts where the demons reside.
“Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” Matthew 12:29
The Strongman is the demon feeding and thriving off the lies.
If you cast out a demon, but don’t work on breaking down his house, you will not walk in full freedom.
When I was going through my deliverance season, God had me fasting from T.V. and media. I was just feasting on God’s word.
It was hard to do, because my mind was so accustomed to negative thinking. God also led me to listen to Praise music, which was painful when I was wallowing in depression.
3 states your mind can be in:
- Slave = Victim
- Survivor Mentality = Wilderness
- Soldier = Partnering with God’s Work
God delivers us from Bondage but does NOT deliver us from Battles. This is because We were created to take Dominion. If you haven’t anyone to conquer, how can you dominate? God wants you to fight for your territory (your mind, family, ministry, etc.) There are things we need to be delivered from. But there are things we need to go through so God can develop our character.
We need to differentiate these! God does not want you in demonic torment. He will deliver you. When you come upon trials, God will equip you with knowledge, understanding, revelation and strategy.
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptation.” James 1:2
Lessons from Pain
1.Recognize your enemy and face him. If your eyes are on yourself (in guilt and condemnation) Just know you are not the enemy, the devil is and you need to identify him.
2.Seek Jesus more than your freedom! Your freedom is a by-product of being near Jesus. Take your eyes off yourself and look to the Deliverer.
3.Allow the Holy Spirit to take you and your thoughts through the cleansing process. Give God time and yourself patience.
4.Endure Suffering. The person you become in the process is far more valuable than a miracle or outcome. I don’t regret what I went through, because the love of God and His power is something I’ve experienced through the process. God wants us Victorious! Not a Victim or a Slave.
How to Renew your mind:
1.Don’t wait for your circumstances to change, before you start changing your mind. We cannot let our mind be on the same level of our circumstance. Our minds get transformed before our life gets transformed.
2.Stop believing you can’t control your thoughts. Don’t let your mind go to default thinking, master it! Tell your mind what to focus on.
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalm 1:2
3.What you feed your mind becomes your mindset. I had to choose to believe God loved me and from there let Him peel away the lies of the enemy.
4.Confess what you Believe, not what you Feel. If you struggle, confess God’s word out loud!
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh 1:8
5.Resist Negative thoughts, assist Positive thoughts. Pull out the weeds of Negative Thinking and plant the seeds of Positive Thinking. Do this one thought at a time! Don’t overwhelm yourself!
6.Celebrate the process. Take one step at a time. Decide now to never give up!
7.Expect Miracles. Do not let your mind expect the worst! Fight to Believe God’s best.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
