Breaking Free - Chapter 41: Deprogramming and Reprogramming

Breaking Free - Chapter 41: Deprogramming and Reprogramming

1. What led you to be able to see a particular sin involved in a stronghold in your life? 

Well as I've said before, fear has been an issue for me, and God has been working with me, to set me free for a long time, but one of the key moments was when I heard this...
"Fear is believing in the lies of the devil; faith is believing the promises of God."
When I started looking at fear as believing Satan's lies, it was a huge turning point in becoming free from this stronghold.


2. What are some of the lies that you have begun to identify that surround a stronghold in your life?

Here are a few of the lies Satan has tried to use on me:

• I'm not good enough.
• I'm not strong enough
• Bad things happen to everyone, God can't/won't protect me.
• Everyone else is better at just about everything than me.
• Friends will always leave just when I begin to let them close.

3. What is the meaning of the statement, "Deception is the glue that holds a stronghold together"?


Strongholds are made completely out of lies and deception, so when truth is applied, the strongholds crumble. Truth acts like a wall paper remover melting away the lies and setting you free.


4. Have you experienced difficulty with the lie that you are responsible to help every person who has a need?

Yes, as newly married young adults, my husband and I started attending a church that felt like home away from home...and very quickly we got involved and were loving it.  But somewhere along the way, we bought into the lie that we had to help if we were asked, and so we said yes to just about everything.  I worked in the church office and helped with just about every ministry of the church as part of my job, but in addition to that, we were collectively involved with the following...

Children's Church
Choir
Worship team
Drama
Ladies Bible Study
Boys and Girls Clubs
Men's Basketball
Quilts for Soldiers
and other miscellaneous outreaches and projects around the church.

We were at the church just about every day of the week and then sometimes two or three times a day.  None of these things were bad on their own, and we truly loved helping, but Satan made us feel like we were evil if we said no, and so we kept taking things on to the point of being burned out.  When we moved out of that area and started attending another church it took months for us to be ready to volunteer for anything, and to this day (5 years later) we are very cautious, because we don't want to get to that point again.


5. Why is identifying the lies that surround a stronghold an absolute necessity to a life of freedom?

Identifying the very thing that is holding you captive, and the lies that are holding it together, allows you to overcome it with the truth from God's Word and be set free, but if you don't identify the lies you will continue to believe them, and you will not find the freedom God has for you.

Breaking Free - Chapter 40: Tearing Down The High Places

Breaking Free - Chapter 40: Tearing Down The High Places

1. What type of things have tried to keep you from centering your mind on Christ? 

Worry about loved ones. 


2. What does learning to "think a troublesome thought" as it relates to Christ mean to you? 

I look at it as changing the way you look at the situation, and the way you go about thinking about it.  For example:  When I am worried about a loved one who is not making wise decisions, I can sit and fret and think of all the horrible things it may lead to (this would be a thought holding me captive), or I could think about that person and all the potential and great promises God has for them. Then I can pray for them using scripture asking God to work in their life, and release them into His hands. Effectively, I've taken this thought that once held me captive,and have taken it captive and brought it into obedience with Christ. 


3. Why is idolatry an open invitation to disaster?

When you put something in a place of more importance than God, you are allowing something to come between you and God, that is a recipe for disaster.

 
4. Do you tend to think of confession as admitting you have done something shameful or as coming to say the same thing God says about an issue?


Up until reading this chapter, I always thought of confession as admitting to something wrong in your life.  To see it as coming to agree with God's Word on a matter was a real eye opener.

Breaking Free - Chapter 39: A View From the New

Breaking Free - Chapter 39: A View From the New

1. Can you describe a stronghold you have struggled with in your life?
Fear 

Fear of bad things happening, fear of bugs and spiders, fear of failure, fear of losing the people I love...
Fear is a terrible stronghold, and I've dealt with it in many different forms.


2. How did the stronghold gain strength in your life?

During the time in my life when I was fearful that bad things would happen, simple things that many people wouldn't think twice about like watching a TV show about crime, would make it so that I couldn't get to sleep.  Seeing the drama played out was enough to fuel the fear and get it from a small flicker to a roaring fire.  I had to stop watching certain TV shows and then I spent that time reading God's Word and praying.


3. What part does insecurity play in strongholds?

It is our insecurities that make us susceptible to the lies and thoughts that become strongholds.


4. What kind of excuses have you made for not surrendering some area of your life to the authority of Christ?

I tell God I'm giving it to Him, but I tend to hold on as if I think He won't notice...I don't really give excuses, just reach over at the last minute and grab a hold of the very thing I just promised to give Him.  When I think about it, it seems so crazy for me to even think I could get away with it, but somehow, I regress and start to think like a 3 year old trying to hide something in plain site from a parent. I adamantly shake my head, saying, "no, I'm not holding on to it, I gave it to you." 

 

Chapter 38: A View From The Old

1. Why do you think freedom requires in-depth study and deliberate application of truth?

Well, we know that the truth will set us free, but how will we know truth, if we do not dig down deep in God's Word and study all of the truths He teaches us there-in.  And once we have studied God's Word and learned the truth, would we then just walk away, and say okay I know what the truth is now, I'm good.  No! We need to take the truth and apply it to every area of our lives so that it can work and bring about the freedom, we are looking and longing for. If we do not apply the truth to our lives, it does us no good to know it. 


2. Why is learning to apply a process to freedom much better than simply obtaining freedom from a stronghold?

As with just about everything in life, if you work for it, you appreciate it more than if it was just handed to you.  When it comes to our spiritual walk with God, the same is true, but even more than that, when we have to work to apply the truths, and slowly make our way to freedom, once we reach our goal, we are more likely to appreciate the gift God has given us, but also, somewhere along the way we grew closer to God and became more like Him.  If God just gave freedom to us without us needing to work through the process, we would never appreciate it, and we would just go right back out and get ourselves back into the bondage that God just freed us from, and we would never learn to walk with God and grow in our relationship with Him.


3. What evidence do you have in your life that shows God is the watchman over your mind?

Every since I can remember I have dealt with nightmares.  I'm talking horrible dark, evil, scare you to death, nightmares.  As a young girl I found out that just whispering the name of Jesus, made these horrible dreams disappear. I would try to fall asleep singing this old song...

"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's just something about that name.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,like a fragrance after the rain.
Master, Savior, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim,
Kings and Kingdoms will all pass away,
but there's something about that name."

And every night, since probably the age of 4 or 5, I pray and ask God to give me good dreams, and not bad, and ask that He watch over me as I sleep. There have been a few times, that I fell asleep without saying this simple prayer, and every time, I've had a nightmare.  I know that God watches over me and protects my mind as I sleep.



4. How is perfect peace in our imperfect minds different than having a perfect mind?

I have yet to hear of or meet anyone who has a perfect mind, but I have met people who despite their circumstances, and imperfections, have a peace that passes all understanding.  A perfect mind, would be something someone would be quite proud of and probably would want to take the credit for it, but when your mind is not perfect, and you have a peace that goes beyond all of the imperfections and you don't have to worry about how it will all work out, because God has given you His peace, it is nothing you can take the credit for and God gets all of the glory.


5. What difference does the way you frame events make in your life?

We all see things from a different perspective, I may see a kite flying in the sky, and I frame it as a good memory, as I recall times from the past that we went out to fly kites as a family.   But someone else may see that same kite flying in the sky, and because of the family situation they lived with as a child, that kite may bring back some horrible memories and feelings. So they frame it in their mind as a bad situation.   We take our past memories, and situations and use them as a lens through which we view the world and everything going on around us, this is the way we "frame"events in our life and it effects everything we do.

Chapter 37: The Fruit of Unfailing Love

1. Why is it unique for someone to believe that God loves?


Our minds have trouble believing in things that we cannot see, and there is not one person on earth who can show us unfailing love...everyone fails at some point, so we tend to believe the same is true of God.  We look at God as if He were a human, with all of the same downfalls, and restrictions we deal with, however, when someone truly grasps that God is God, and God is Love; it is then that they believe with their whole heart that God loves them unconditionally with unfailing love.  It takes a lot for a person to get to this point, where they never doubt God's love, but that is exactly where God wants all of us to be...resting and trusting in Him daily!


2. Why does believing that God loves cause our bonds to lose their strength?


Once your know the truth, and you truly believe it, all of the lies that have you bound, loose their power.  The light (truth) always overcomes the dark (lies)!


3. What has added most to your awareness of security in God's leadership?

Hardships; times when I could not get through it alone, and the only thing that could help me through it all was God and His unfailing love!


4. What means most to you: God's salvation, mercy, comfort, or defense? Why?





Wow, that is a hard question.  Without any of those things I would be in trouble.  I depend daily on God's Salvation to save me, on His Mercy to give me a chance when I don't deserve it, His comfort when life is just more than my frail heart can bear, and I know that He is really my only defense...without God I am hopeless, and doomed. I could not choose any one of those over the other, I need them all!

Chapter 36: Failure to Believe God's Unfailing Love

1. How can unbelief make the church ill?

Unbelief is the opposite of faith, and Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well."  If we are lacking faith, we will not come to see God's promises present in our lives, because it it through faith, believing wholeheartedly, that we will receive the gifts the Father has for us.


2. Why do Christians have difficulty believing God?

Many times we have trouble believing what God says, because we are not in His Word daily, reminding us of all the truths He teaches us.  It is like a memory...a day or two after the event, you may have a clear picture of it in your head, but give it 25 years, and what actually happened may not be very clear, you only remember bits and pieces, and sometimes we forget about it altogether.  When we do not read God's Word daily, we start to forget what it is we believe in and then when we hear a lie that is close to the truth, but not quite right, we believe it because we don't have the truth fresh in our hearts and minds.


3. How does God Tell us He loves us?

In many ways, over and over again God tells us of His love... in His Word, and with His actions.


4. In what ways does God demonstrate His love for us?

Everything God does, He does because of love! It is because of His great love for us that He blesses us, and  answers our prayers, God disciplines those that He loves, He also gives us constant care, He intervenes on our behalf and so much more.

Chapter 35: The Fullness of Unfailing Love

1. Why can we find genuine satisfaction only in God? 

Because no matter what we do to try to fill the void(s) in our lives, nothing will work.  God made us, and He not only knows what we need, He purposefully created us with those voids, so that we would come to Him for satisfaction. He is the only One who can satisfy our souls! 


2. How do we find satisfaction in God? 

We find satisfaction in God when we open up every part of our lives to Him and let His Spirit and Love come in and fill up all of our emptiness. 


3. How does "Spirit-filled" compare to "Spirit-satisfied"? 

When we accept Christ as our Savior, God's Spirit comes to dwell in our soul...we are spirit-filled.
But being Spirit-satisfied, means that we have allowed the Spirit of God to move in and fill up all of the voids in our heart and soul, so that we do not need to look for satisfaction in other things.  We find our satisfaction completely in God's Spirit!   


4. How is the Spirit of God loosed in our lives? 

God's Spirit is loosed in our lives when we confess and agree with God's Word.

 

Chapter 34: The Freedom of Unfailing Love

1. Why do you think we have such a difficult time believing that God really loves us?

Because we all know what we are really like...we know the evil thoughts we've had, or the things we've done when no one else was around, and somehow we think that there is no way God could love us since we've done those things, and yet we believe that God could love others in that way, because we don't know of all the things they have done.

2. How does God love all people in spite of their behavior?
God loves everyone, no matter who they are, what they've done, or are currently doing. God created each one of us and has watched us grow, He has walked beside us and loved us even when we were at our worst. He is our heavenly Father, and we are his children, there is nothing we could do to change the way God feels about us. His love really is never-ending, it will never fail or falter, His love is the same no matter what...His love is extravagant!

3. How does God's love relate to His sometimes severe discipline?

God disciplines those that He loves. His love for us demands that He discipline us when we stray. To let us get away with rebellion would be against everything God is, He doesn't want us to spend eternity in hell, but without His discipline to bring us back to Him, that is were many of us would end up. God sent His son to die so that we could spend eternity in heaven with Him, so after doing that, it would make no sense for Him to just watch us walk away from Him without doing something to try to bring us back into right relationship with Him again.

4. How can rebellion lead to prisons?

Rebellion is a terrible thing, when we rebel, we are telling God that we don't need Him any more, that we are going to do things our own way, because obviously we know so much more than He possibly could. So when we start to live in rebellion, we walk out from under God's protective care, and many times it leads us into things that may not be physical prisons, but none the less prisons of the mind, or prisons of the spirit.

5. What does God do to see that His captive children find freedom?

God never gives up on us, and He is willing to go to great lengths to restore our relationship with Himself. Even if it means causing us pain, it is worth it if it saves us and sets us free!

Chapter 33: Finding Unfailing Love

1. What risk do we run when we base our relationship with God on His works?

Disappointment. God's ways are much higher than ours, and the way he decides to handle a situation may not be what you expected, it may be completely opposite of what you wanted, and far from what you had prayed specifically for...But God knows best and His love never changes!


2. What is our deepest psychological need?

To be loved, unconditionally, unfailingly no matter what!


3. How does Christ meet that need?

God is love, the unconditional, unfailing no matter what, type of love and therefore He cannot do anything other than love us in that same way. Christ made it possible for us to receive this unfailing love, and the forgiveness we need in order to spend eternity with Him.


4. How have you learned that God is the answer not only to your needs but also to your wants?

Through out my life, God has always provided for my needs, but He also has provided my hearts desires. This becomes very apparent when I really evaluate my life and all of the blessings I have; many of which I consider a need, but really they are just wants, and desires, but God in His love and mercy has granted them to me.

Chapter 32: God's Daily Rule

1. Why do we struggle so much with the "daily-ness" of obedience to God?

We struggle with the daily-ness of obedience because we are human. We are not perfect and this world has a lot of things to distract us and cause us to forget to check in with God. When we don't check in with God each day, we don't know how He is leading us, or where He is leading us to, and if we don't know where He is leading, there is no possible way we can follow Him and be obedient daily.


2. Which of the five benefits of a daily walk with God means the most to you?

They are all so good! But the one that means the most to me is number 2 "God offers us the daily treasure of His sure foundation."


3. How important to you is a fresh morning word?

It sounds absolutely wonderful, but I am not a morning person, and I do much better spending time with God in the evening, it is when I am able to sit down and focus without all of the morning routine and distractions. I guess, I see how it would be beneficial to have God's Word first thing in the morning, but I think it is more important to make sure you are getting His Word daily, the time of day really does not matter.

4. What is your biggest temptation when you don't feel that God is illuminating your way clearly?

My biggest temptation is to try to light my own torch and make it on my own understanding, instead of just waiting and allowing God to lead me even though I cannot see where I am going.

Chapter 31: God's Rule is Right

1. How do you react to having to obey an unrighteous authority?

I want to question how in the world they got to their place of authority, but as along as the things they ask of me are not contrary to God's Word, I'll do my best to obey, but when it comes to crossing the lines and doing something I am morally opposed to...I'll take a stand, at just about any cost.


2. Why do we want so desperately to be our own boss? Is it even possible?

We all are fallen, sinful creatures, and to understand what exactly that means to us, I would suggest reading the great book "Roll Away Your Stone" by Dutch Sheets. In this book Dutch explains just what happened when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and how that effects all of us today. Basically, we were never meant to make decisions on our own, apart from God...we were supposed to be spirit lead always listening to God's voice and following Him, but when sin entered, we became soul led, meaning we try to lead ourselves and we make most decisions without ever talking to or listening to God. We need to ask God to take control once more, and work to be obedient to Him, and that is when we will experience true freedom.  
The Apostle Paul, in Romans 6:16, makes it very clear that whether you think you are in control or not the reality is that you are a slave to someone...You get to choose, God or Satan.

"Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, 

you are slaves to the one whom you obey - 

whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, 

or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"

3. What influences have caused your trust in God to increase?

God has strategically placed people and speakers and even friends and bible studies or books in my life at just the right moments and all of these things at one point or another had a huge effect on my trust in God.


4. Do you have authority problems? How have you become aware of them?

Not that I know of.

Chapter 30: God's Right to Rule

1. When do we experience freedom in Christ?

Only when we surrender and let God be in complete control...it is then that His Spirit can flood our lives, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!


2. What is the difference between working our way to freedom and withholding no part of our lives from God's authority?

Working our way to freedom is not effective, but surrendering to God's authority will bring complete freedom.


3. How does believing in God's right to rule affect your obedience?

Believing in God's right to rule in our lives, makes it very clear that obedience is the only way we can experience freedom, and gives us some motivation to be obedient in all we do.


4. How does believing that God's rule is right affect your obedience?

When we believe that God's rule is right, it creates a foundation for trusting God to rule in every area of our lives.


5. How does seeing God as the center of your universe make a difference in your life?

When God is the center of the universe, it takes the focus off of us, and all of the petty things we tend to get stuck on, creating freedom from the things that cause frustration, and helping us to remember what is really important.