...for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
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Now, back to what I said earlier about the lies we believe in our deep hearts, and that is:
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Strongholds are made up of lies.
Strongholds are lies that we believe, and most often they are lies about our God and also ourselves.
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First the lies about our God:
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The fact is that when we genuinely believe the truths about our Triune God;
His Names,
His Attributes,
His Nature and His Ways,
and
His Character,
We find ourselves Satisfied, Fulfilled and Content within our deep hearts.
But, if we are harboring lust of any kind within our hearts, that lust betrays what we think and say about our Wonderful God. The residence of any lust within us reveals that we turn to it and not to our Heavenly Father for comfort and pleasure.
What does Philippians 4:8 say?
Finally, brothers,
whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think about such things.
But if instead we turn to lust, (using our imaginations) to create erotic fantasies in which we are the star of those fantasies. Then, we have chosen this lust over intimacy with our Heavenly Father.
The fact is, us men who are vulnerable to lusting, we often stand at a crossroads countless times a day, where we choose to either focus on this lust or to look to our Father God and focus on Him and His Kingdom. When we make the choice to allow lust to entertain us, that action within our hearts is making a statement to our Father God.
That Statement is:
“I find more “satisfaction” with my lust
than I do being your son or being with You.
Again, that so called “satisfaction,” most often is a” mood-altering” experience to relieve the pain caused by any “strongholds” about our God or ourselves within us. Therefore, the “lies” we believe about our Heavenly Father are simple and clear.
We don’t believe what the Holy Bible reveals about Him!
For scripture tells us He is:
Loving,
Kind,
Good and
Tenderhearted.
That He is:
Awesome,
Wonderful, and
Majestic
Oh, in our minds we say we believe these truths. But the test comes when we are at those crossroads of choosing either Him or Erotic Fantasy. For if we did choose Him, our souls would be satisfied, and we would want to be in His presence all the time. As King David said:
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
But when we turn to lust, we are turning to a forbidden fruit that brings war to our soul. As it says in Galatians 5:16-17:
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit,
and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.
The Spirit and our sinful nature are in conflict with each other, and we see that it is our sinful nature’s intent to cause you to do the opposite of what your Spirit wants to do.
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Second, the “Lies” that we believe about ourselves,
sits at the other end of this spectrum.
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At this other end of this spectrum, we don’t believe what our Father God says about us. And we don’t believe we are worthy to be valued in this way. (Remember, this all takes place in the deep parts of our hearts.)
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Now what “lies” do men who struggle with their sex drive believe?
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According to the acclaimed author Patrick Carnes in his best selling book on sexual addiction,
“Out of the Shadows.”
There three main “lies” that men who are addicted to sex believe:
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I’m basically a bad and unworthy person.
(Lie = Your Father God views you as His adopted son)
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No one loves me as I am.
(Lie =Your Father God sent Jesus to die on the cross for you, just as you are.)
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My needs are never going to be met if I have to depend on others.
(Lie =Your Father God created you and knows all your needs and He desires to meet all those needs.)
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Patrick Carnes has done us a great service in pointing out these three “lies” to us and the fact is that we prove him right by the sins of lust we harbor within our hearts. Therefore, the way we handle these “lies” within us concerning what we believe about our God and ourselves is that we most often use Lust, Masturbation and sometimes Pornography in an attempt to “alter our moods” to cover the pain within our deep hearts. But most often the result is the emergence of a sin cycle within our lives which again often looks like this:
Sinning – Repenting – Sinning – Repenting – Sinning – Repenting – with no resolve.
And for us who have a “strong will,” were we can go for great periods of time without falling into these sins. The fact is that a “strong will” does not equal healing of the three “lies” mention above. It just means we “binge,” maybe every couple of months or just once or twice a year or even less often, Nevertheless, healing has not been experienced.
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Of these three vices that we turn to:
Lust, is an issue of the heart,
Masturbation, is a maturity issue,
and
Pornography, is an Idolatry issue.
But the three together produce a powerful stimulation for the body and also for the soul. Lust, intensifies Masturbation, and Pornography again, greatly enhances this “mood altering” experience,so much so that the experts call pornography
“the crack-cocaine of the internet.”
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Its like this, our sin nature invites us to a “party,” if we accept this invitation,
Lust, brings our Soul
Masturbation, brings our Body
and
Pornography, brings our Spirit.
But, if we truly are sons of the living God, we quickly find out that it is not a “party” but a “trap.”
The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but
the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.
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Yes, we cannot deny that the first half of this experience is like a “Party.” Yet, the second half of this experience is a “Trap.” And this “trap” produces within us;
with Lust =
an unclean heart
(this is clearly sin)
with Masturbation =
immaturity
(Is sin when with lust and/or pornography are included )
with Pornography =
we allow ourselves to enter into “idolatry.”
(a sin with many consequences)
What is the take away from these three enticements in our lives? Not a party but, Satan will try to entrap us with,
shame — guilt — addiction — slavery — sin — death.
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This is what the “Stronghold” within us is made us with
and
great numbers of our brothers in Christ believe these lies.
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For the Christian man struggling in these areas, within his life, the presentation
will take these lies head-on go to war against these three “lies,” which he has believed for most of his life.
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Reality Check:
until
each of these “Strongholds” within us are destroyed.
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How do we destroy these “Strongholds,” these “lies” within us?
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Saint Augustine said:
Before God can deliver us,
we must undeceive ourselves.
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The resolve is threefold:
1) Personal responsibility.
2) Repenting at the Cross for our ongoing believing of these two “lies.”
3) Applying James 5:16 to our lives.
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1) Personal Responsibility:
One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.
Leonardo da Vinci
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While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.
Benjamin Franklin
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Again, Scripture is clear, we are responsible for what goes on in our hearts. In Matthew 5:27-30 what Jesus is saying there is:
To deal radically with any sin in our heart.
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And how do we “gouge out” or “cut off” sin in our heart?
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2) By repenting at the Cross:
Our first stop is at the Cross of Jesus because, as A. W. Tozer says:
We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ.
And our unholiness in this case is three-fold;
1) The lust within our hearts.
2) Our unbelief concerning our Father God and
3) The ongoing believing of the three “lies” that Patrick Carnes points out.
What does Ecclesiastes 4:12 say:
…A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
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Now, if you are caught up in the cycle of;
Sinning – Repenting – Sinning – Repenting – Sinning – Repenting – with no resolve,
this is a “red flag” meaning that there is most likely a stronghold within you.
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How do we shatter this stronghold?
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Remember, Psalm 89:40
You have broken through all his walls
and
reduced his strongholds to ruins.
Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 10:4:
The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons
of the world.
On the contrary,
they have divine power
to demolish strongholds.
It is time to bring in this “divine power” this scripture speaks of
Now in 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 this scripture speaks of a “power” that is tied to the Cross of Jesus;
For Christ did not send me to baptize,
but
to preach the gospel—
not with words of human wisdom,
lest the cross of Christ
be emptied of its power.
For the message of the cross
is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but
to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.
I present to you that it is this power that this scripture speaks of, that has this “divine power.”
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3) Applying James 5:16 to our lives:
Also, it is time to seek out help from your brothers in Christ.
Why?
Because James 5:16 says:
Therefore confess your sins to each other
and
pray for each other so that you may be healed.
These two scriptures are the keys for breaking these “lies/strongholds” within us.
It is when the power of the Cross and the prayer of a righteous man are brought to bear on any stronghold within us that we are applying this divine power to demolish these strongholds.
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Question:
How often should we seek prayer?
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Answer:
Until the power of the sin is broken within your heart.
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Prayer is like a battering ram against sin.
We must learn to P.U.S.H.
Pray Until Something Happens.
The Truth is that the power of that sin cannot compare with
or the
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Question:
How do you know when the “Stronghold”
has been
…reduced to ruins?
Answer:
One way is you will find that what it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 will start happening:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
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You will be able to
take your thoughts captive!
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Once you have brought any strongholds within you to ruins by this “divine power,” then you are able to experience
It is the presentation on this Website:
That go to war against these three “lies,”which we have believed for most of our lives. These lies are replaced with our Heavenly Father’s truth about Himself and us!
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For help in addressing any issues of “Strongholds” in your life,
I highly recommend the booklet
“The Steps to Freedom In Christ”
by Neil T. Anderson
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