Empowered, Free and Walking in Victory

When I first discovered there was more to this Christian walk than just accepting Christ so I would spend eternity with Him I started reading...and read I did. Of course, I dove head first into the Word of God and then I started reading books on freedom, deliverance, spiritual warfare, and walking in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ...to name but a few topics I studied.


One of the first books I read that put me a little outside my comfort zone was "The Three Battlegrounds" (An in-depth view of the three arenas of spiritual warfare; The mind, the church and the heavenly places) by Francis Frangipane. Extra points if you can pronounce the author's last name correctly...oh wait, I can't even pronounce it correctly:)


This is a great book to open your eyes to the fact we are at war, not with each other, but with the forces of darkness Paul writes of in Ephesians 6:10-20.


From the beginning of my journey to where I am today I've taken all kinds of turns. At first, I must admit, I was a little in awe of the kingdom of darkness and the power it has here on the earth. Now, please hear me...I was never interested in dallying with the kingdom of darkness, but I did find myself looking for a demon behind every bush. The "devil made me do it" and "the devil is after me" mentality. I was giving him way more credit than he was due!


Thank God, I didn't stay in that camp for long! The Lord has shown me, although the kingdom of darkness and the devil are very real, they are also a defeated foe. He also taught me the Kingdom of God is much stronger than the kingdom of darkness! I realized what I placed my focus on I would empower. I was faced with a choice...focus on God and empower His truth in my life or focus on the work of the enemy and stay in a constant state of defeat and a never ending battle.


When we focus on the works of the enemy we are in essence making the devil really big and our God really small...when the fact is they are not equally matched opponents. Think about that for a moment and ask yourself the question, "Am I or have I made the devil bigger than my God?" Be honest with yourself. It's okay to admit it. I did. Confess, repent and turn to God and start empowering His truth in your life.


It's been over five years since I first read "The Three Battlegrounds." I decided recently to go back and re-read it. It's like I'm reading it with new eyes and a new mind (a renewed mind.) Many points are speaking to me, but I'm especially drawn to a paragraph on page 31, under the section "Repentance Precedes Deliverance." I want to quote this section for you:


"If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have already had many strongholds broken in your life. These were broken when you repented and came to Jesus. Deliverance is often just that simple when a soul is willing. Yet, without some measure of repentance, deliverance is almost always impossible, for although a spirit may be commanded to leave, if the structure of the individuals thoughts has not been changed, his wrong attitude toward sin will welcome that spirit back."

Now, at this point, this post could take several different paths, deliverance being one of them. We could explore the house being swept clean, but not replaced with truth taught in Luke 11:21-26. Or we could explore how repentance proceeds deliverance as taught in Mark 6:12. But I want to take it a somewhat different direction, although in the end it all comes back to the same point.

Can you think of a time, place, service, retreat, etc. where you really connected with God? Maybe it was a revival, a secluded weekend retreat or perhaps your salvation experience. The power of the Holy Spirit moved and worked through the speakers, the worship and the environment. You left the moment having received a deposit into your heart directly from the heart of the Father. The feeling was amazing and you felt invincible...there was nothing you couldn't accomplish with Jesus by your side.

Then...life intruded and interupted your utopia, the unexpected happened, tragedy struck, circumstances changed and your sense of security was brought into question and at the very root, your faith was challenged...or maybe none of the above took place but you slipped back into a life of mediocrity. You were left wanting the "high" of your divine mountain top moment back...and maybe you even sought it.

I see this some in the inner healing ministry. People coming in wanting an encounter with God, wanting their junk gone, wanting a quick fix and some even wanting to fix their spouse (we won't go there:)..."make my problems go away" or "fix this mess I've found myself in." Kind of a sense of drive-thru Jesus. They might find themselves going from program to program, ministry to ministry, church to church seeking a feeling or a quick solution to life's problems...only to complete the process and still walk away without lasting change.


As I read the above passage from the book I was drawn to this conclusion. Our freedom and deliverance is our choice, first and foremost. We can't expect to confess a little, cry a little and receive a touch from God than go back to doing the same sins, having the same ungodly thoughts or believing the same lies and expect to walk in freedom. Sure, grace is abundant and we can continue to sin/confess all we want, but if we do so we are choosing an inferior life. As a Christian there is more and let me tell you from experience, there is freedom and victory!


We can't have actions or thoughts that come into agreement with the kingdom of darkness and expect to walk in victory in that area. Let's face it our thoughts and/or actions either agree with the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness.


As I walk this journey I am asking God to reveal those thoughts not in agreement with His. He is gracious and does so gently. In the past I have been discouraged when He brings up something negative to address, but as I grow I look forward to those things rising to the surface so that I can enter into the pruning process and come out the other side looking a little more like Jesus. (see II Corinthians 3:16-18)


Friends, don't be discouraged, it is a process and a journey we will find ourselves on until we meet our Savior face to face...the Christianese word for it is sanctification. Being a Christian doesn't make us perfect. It doesn't mean life will be all roses. It certainly doesn't mean we will not sin.


To me being a Christian means I'm so in love with my Savior I want to imitate Him in everything I do and say. I want to walk freely in all Jesus' death and resurrection secured for me. I don't want to waste a moment of grace. I want to be all He made me to be. It means receiving grace, love and mercy and freely giving it away to others. I simply can not afford to have thoughts not in alignment with His...not so I can be perfect, but so I can live fully and freely. I've tried a life of keeping the "rules." It didn't work for me and it was absolutely exhausting.

Today I choose life, I choose to take my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ and I choose Jesus...the freedom this brings makes my soul sing!