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Trapped
by Tina Laforce
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide
in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.”
John 8:31-32
What is freedom?
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Personal liberty, as from slavery, bondage, serfdom, etc.
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Liberation or deliverance, as from confinement or bondage
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The quality or state of being free,
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The state of being without something unpleasant or bad;
exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation
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The right or privilege of unrestricted use or access
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Autonomy, self-government, or independence
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The power or liberty to order one's own actions
So I thought, I know what the definition of freedom is and if
we are not free, what are we then?
BOUND, TRAPPED, HELD CAPTIVE OR CONFINED.
I looked up the word
SERFDOM -
A person in a condition of servitude, required to
render services to a lord.
To a lord? How
about to satan?
To the liar of all liars.
Jesus said, ‘Ye
are of your
father the
devil.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it’.
John 8:44
He has been called 'Satan'
and he has been called 'the Devil' but no matter what
terminology you use, he will always be 'The Father of Lies'...
He was a liar from the beginning in the garden when he
lied to Eve.i
In order to experience freedom, we have to understand bondage.
Bondage to what??
People don’t know it or don’t see it but there are so many
forms of bondage.
Bondage is one of Satan’s means to destroy us or cause us to
be useless for God’s purpose. It’s whatever that enslaves us.
Makes us incapacitated to do anything for the glory of
God. BONDAGE!!
THINGS WE CAN BE BOUND TO:
( 1 )We can be bound by resentments and unforgiveness.
Sometimes we may harbor some unforgiveness towards hurts of
the past inflicted on us by friends, family or even strangers.
We may blame ourselves or feel shame or humiliation
because of something that happened to us.
It could stay in us for years and we may not be able to
get past it. Our
anger just grows and grows until it consumes us.
BONDAGE!!!
God understands that we are human and we cannot forgive on our
own – this is why He sent Jesus Christ to help us.
Matthew 26:41 says… “the spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak.” Satan knows that he has the legal
right to attack our mind when we have un-forgiveness in our
heart. Whether a Christian for a long time or a short time,
there is something we can do as believers to
maintain our peace and freedom – and that is
to forgive others. We must be willing to forgive others (and
our self) if we want to continue living and walking in God’s
peace and freedom.
Do you know that if we don’t confess our unforgiveness
we prevent God’s power from working in our lives?
I am responsible for my life, my heart and my shortcomings.
I have to forgive in order for the Spirit to work in my
life, otherwise I am denying God’s power.
It says,” Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you.”
But if you do not
forgive men
their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your
trespasses. Matthew 6:15
In the Lord’s prayer.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us.
(2 ) We can be bound by addictions whether they be it be
through substance, pornography or gambling.
I’ve recently read an article in a magazine called ‘Living
Light News’ There
was a story about a Rhythm and Blues singer by the name of
Mary J Blige. She
came from the Bronz of NY.
She was abandoned by her father at a very young age and
later was sexually molested by a friend of the family.
She felt worthless and she blamed herself for what had
happened, which in turn led her to a path of self-destruction.
She was recognized for her talent as a singer and she
became famous.
She received many awards for the R&B songs mixed with gospel
rap, hip hop and high-tech funk.
The glitz and glamour was not enough to dispel the deep
scar in her. She
got hooked on drugs and alcohol.
It took control of her and she went on a downward
spiral for some time. She was trapped, doing whatever she
could to feel better.
But nothing brought her the peace or happiness she
craved. Yet, by
the grace of God, she was introduced to Jesus.
It took time but she finally understood that she was
special and
loved. Currently
she is serving the Lord and glorifying Him through her music.
She is a rising star.
She has a song called “The Living Proof” which is on
the soundtrack from the hit movie ‘The Help’ in 2011.
She’s a great example of being set free.
Addiction is one of the most common problems in the world
today. So common that it seems natural to many and excepted.
Some have addictions that they don't even realize ARE
addictions.
Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, Rock music, pornography, video
games, and gambling are addictive and will always lead to more
of the same.
Drugs can lead to prostitution, stealing and murder.
Addictions are things you can’t go without and you
become a slave to them.
An addiction always lead’s to more addictions that
lead’s to more addictions and so on and so on. It is a
downward and draining habit that literally takes you
completely away from God and makes you useless as a person of
God. These things entice us with their great pleasures for a
moment, but they become a controlling factor in our lives.
Some addictions can even lead to imprisonment or to death.
Alcohol can lead to drunk-driving accidents.
It’s on the news.
People killed – Alcohol was a factor.
Or Theft and robberies where a person can end up in
prison.
BONDAGE!!
I wanted to find a game on-line to depict being tied up or
bound in some way.
I was thinking of getting someone tied up up just to
show how a person can’t free themselves when in restraint.
Well I found stuff on bondage all right, it was called
S&M. That’s how
the world sees bondage.
Pornography is an addiction that can entrap the young
and old alike.
There’s prostitution and trafficking happening. The
lure and entrapment comes through in many forms through the
advertisements, Commercials, the web sites and the media.
It’s everywhere and it makes it appealing.
Sex sells.
BONDAGE!!
But I say to you that whoever
looks at a
woman to lust
for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:28
For all that is in the world—the
lust of the
flesh, the lust
of the eyes,
and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the
world. 1 John 2:16
(3) We can be bound by fear and the spirit of oppression.
We believe the lies that satan throws at us.
There are three
wills in this world: God’s will, our will (a part of
our soul), and Satan’s will.
It is no secret what the
devil’s will is.
Look at
John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy…
II Timothy 2:26:
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the
devil, who are taken captive
by him at his will.
Depression and rage are two of the most destructive
oppressions. It
could cause a person to kill or commit suicide, if not dealt
with. Our mind
and emotions, and our flesh, are the areas the devil attacks.
Many Christians have no peace and they have been
tricked into believing they have to live this way. Satan is
telling them that there is no hope for them and that they will
have to live this way as long as they live in this world. This
is a lie from the enemy! Things from the past or sins
committed and not confessed can pose a stronghold, an in-road
for oppression.
Satan knows that the
bondage and addictions are a result of these emotional
strongholds. We then feel that we are not cutting it as
a Christian. We
don’t have what it takes.
Our insecurities become magnified and our self-esteem
is beaten. We
become depressed or self loathing and wonder how God can use
us?
FEAR!
I had a vehicle accident for the second time in 2006.
I became gripped by fear every winter.
Once, I was driving back from out of the city and just
before getting onto the Yellowhead in a snow storm, I had a
tight grip on the steering wheel and I couldn’t breath.
I pulled over and could not move.
I called a friend and she talked to and helped me
through it.
Another time, I had a friend with me and had to get him to
take over the driving.
I started to panic and had a hard time breathing again,
I was gripping my steering wheel again and my neck and
shoulders started to hurt from the tension.
Another time I was on my way to a meeting and end up
pulling over again on Yellowhead trail.
I called the person I was suppose to meet and she came
and picked me up.
She found me on the Yellowhead trembling and crying because of
the fear that gripped me again. Before winter, I started to
fear the winter.
I was starting to dread winter and with the job I have now, AS
A CAREGIVER and driving all over the place, sometimes 18
places in a day, I could not get away from driving.
I started experiencing anxiety and getting that same
old dread that came with it.
I called Major Steven about it and he suggested that I
get prayed over.
So one day I sat with Sylvia and we prayed over this and since
then, I have been set free from the fear of driving. I pray
every time it snows and I ask the Lord for protection and I am
set free from the bondage of this fear. Sometimes you can’t do
things alone.
Your need the support and prayer of your fellow brothers and
sisters in Christ.
Satan needs just one area of our life to help him open other
areas. Satan doesn’t care what sin a Christian falls for just
as long as he (Satan) can keep his foot in a door. He only
wants a crack in one door so he can open it further –
eventually opening other doors in our life. It is then that we
lose our ability to overcome temptation; or to be a good
witness and bear fruit. Many people, because of a lifetime of
sin, have at least one area (or door) open to Satan’s
temptations. When
we become saves, we may be instantly delivered from alcohol or
drugs, but might still have a problem with lust. The open door
of lust,
if not shut, can lead to a stronghold of
perversion in their life. This stronghold of perversion can
eventually re-open other doors that God shut at our
conversion; such as the doors of alcohol or drugs.
An open door of sin will allow a vicious cycle or
pattern to continue in the life of a Christian unless it is
dealt with.
We must give every area of our life to God.
When a person gets surrenders their lives to Christ, they
sometimes continue smoking, drinking, or even doing drugs.
Why did God not instantly set
every person
free from all bondage and addiction the moment they became a
Christian. Only
God knows. Maybe
there is something deeper that needs to be dealt with.
God could set a person free from addictions, any time,
but He knows there are deeper issues (i.e. pride,
stubbornness, fear, rejection, lust, etc) which are not as
obvious to them as the addictions; however, are equally
as important. God wants to reveal to us the deeper issues and
bondages in our life so that He can completely set us free
from them all. God never intended for His people to carry the
burdens that lead to evil oppression. Jesus Christ came to
bear our cares and burdens, and through Jesus Christ,
Christians can live in peace and freedom.
The devil will try to steal anything he can from Christians,
especially our salvation, if we allow him. He will try to
steal our understanding of God’s Word, our peace of mind, and
our very life! Christians can have more than one area of
oppression at a time and all areas must be dealt with, leaving
nothing hidden. It is that very area we may think does not
matter, or perhaps are embarrassed to deal with, that keeps
allowing temptation back time and time again.
God already knows all that is in a person’s heart, but it is
the person who must see in order to deal with it. God wants
our mind and our emotions (heart) to be free from deep
emotional bondage and issues, just as much as He wants the
addictions (manifestations) of this bondage out of our life.
Timothy 1:7: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.
(4) We can be bound by our past mistakes or by generational
sin, the sins of the father.
We can’t seem to get past our own mistakes.
The enemy reminds us constantly of our failures and
that God is angry with us.
Or he can hound us about things that happened in our
families over generations.
We think that we are no different or that this is part
of our heritage.
Or where they say that the sins of the father will carry on
from generation to generation up to the six.
We have to confess, rebuke and let it go.
For example -- My dad
was an alcoholic so I guess that means I will be an alcoholic.
We settle for the inevitable, SO WE THINK!.
(5) We can be bound by the supernatural or involvements with
horoscopes, psychics or fortune tellers.
One reason Christians stay in bondage is because of the
spiritual doorways or in-roads in their homes. Christians also
stay in bondage to addiction – and/or oppression. These
avenues may have been opened through their own participation
in the practice of false religions. Some of them involve the
praying or worship of statutes or images in certain religions.
There is yoga,
meditation, bowing to statues – as in Buddhism, praying to
spirits other than God, relying on horoscopes, fortune
tellers, etc.. Christians are deceived into
believing that Yoga is only an exercise, but the fact is
Yoga is
Hinduism. Practicing yoga, or misguidedly using it as
exercise, will open spiritually doorways in a person’s mind
and emotions. The word
‘Yoga’ means
‘to yoke’.
People who use this Hindu method of nature worship as
an exercise are actually yoking with the false belief of
Hinduism – and the evil spirits that are behind it.
Yoga postures, are ‘salutations to the sun god’.
The Bible prohibits any and all occult practices, and this
includes all forms of idolatry and nature worship, divination,
etc.
Deuteronomy 4:16-19: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you
a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of
male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the
earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the
likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou
seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host
of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve
them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations
under the whole heaven.
Deuteronomy 18:9-12: When thou art come into the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after
the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found
among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire, and that useth divination, or an observer of
times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a
necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination
unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy
God doth drive them out from before thee.
We want to know the future.
Our itching ears will accept anything that tells us we
will be rich, successful and loved. People are drawn to people
who can give them answers to life’s mysteries.
But peace of mind sought from avenues other than from
the word of God is meaningless.
We might have been involved at some point for the enemy
to keep us bound.
We have to clean our houses of any books or objects that will
open the window of spiritual bondages. We are able to defeat
this Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. Because we are his
Chosen we have the power to win our fight against the Spirit
of Bondage.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Ephesians
6:12:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world. I John 4:1-3
ALL THESE PROMISES ARE FALSE AND TEMPORARY.
YOUR PROBLEMS DON’T GO AWAY.
THEY WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU COME DOWN FROM YOUR HIGH OR
WHEN YOU WAKE UP.
THESE FEELINGS RETURN AGAIN AFTER YOUR NEXT FIX, YOUR NEXT
SMOKE, YOUR NEXT DRINK, YOUR NEXT PILL OR WHATEVER YOU NEED TO
GET THERE.
NOTHING WORKS!!
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed
John 8:36
In Matthew 18:18 it says, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever
ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: …” This means
that we are able to bind the Spirit of Bondage.
Then we can loose the Spirit of Adoption to take us under his
wings as His. In the same verse Matthew 18:18 it says “…and
whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
God can heal us emotionally and physically if we would
just turn everything in our life over to Him – no matter what
it is!
God can heal and deliver us from anything, including nicotine,
but we must first understand how we contributed to temptation
by allowing evil doorways into our homes, and lives. If we do
not remove the doorways eventually we will be tempted back
into bondage.
Through Jesus we can overcome any problem. He understands
exactly what we are going through.
Scripture also tells us that when we are physically, mentally,
and morally weak, and we just do not know how to pray, the
Spirit of the Lord will help us!
In reading
JOHN 10: 10 WE SEE THAT JESUS CHRIST CAME TO GIVE
US LIFE
…I
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians
4:7:
John 14:27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
As Christians we can have peace in our life.
Psalm 119:165
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall
offend them.
Living in peace and freedom begins with knowing the truth of
God’s Word.
John 17:17: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth.
To live in abundance does not mean to live in oppression to
the devil. Jesus
came to set us free from sin and death. He came to destroy the
works of the devil and to give us an abundant life.
It is not God’s will for any person to die lost, but for all
to come to repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ. When
we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior we become new. However,
we must not forget that our enemy the devil will try and
entice us to walk in some of our old bad habits by attacking
our soul (mind, will,
and emotions), and our flesh
God does not cause bondage and addiction, nor is it his desire
for us to be in bondage and addiction. However, it is the
other deep rooted issues in our life that have allowed or
caused bondage and addiction to remain in our life even after
salvation. It does not mean that we are not saved. It just
means that we must
become so tired of living in bondage and addiction that we are
willing to give
everything to God and allow Him to reveal the
deeper issues in our life, so that we can receive freedom and
emotional healing. It just means we may struggle even after
salvation until our deeper issues are dealt with. It means our
emotions are wrapped up in things that we have been afraid to
face, or have subconsciously blocked out. God knows it will
take time for us to deal with the things we have been avoiding
most of our life. He knows that if we tried to face everything
at once it would emotionally destroy us.
He never gives us more than we can handle.
No temptation has
overtaken you except such as is common to
man; but God
is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way
of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
When Christians participate in any practice that is contrary
to the Word of God it will result in evil bondage, addiction,
and oppression of the mind, flesh, and emotions (soul). God
does not want Satan’s things, or practices, in the temple of
our home or mind!
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?
1 Corinthians 6:19
I am amazed at how much scripture there is on his Love, His
Strength, His Power, His Promises.
Get into the Word.
Put up scriptures that speak to you.
1 - Personalize the Scriptures.
Confess and renounce the things holding you back from walking
a victorious life.
We must renounce. Confess, and repent if we are to be set free
from strongholds or in-roads that the enemy can use against us
in order to be set free.
We must acknowledge what is binding us and has us in a
position where we are incapacitated.
2 - Be accountable with someone and pray for one another.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For
we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but
the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26
3 - Another way the truth can bring freedom is to do an
inventory of our own hearts
Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me,
and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in
me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Notice, again, that
scripture includes the mind (thoughts).
4 - Come to the Mercy Seat.
Pray for the freedom that is available for you.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide
in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.”
John 8:31-32
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