February 2001 Teaching
Overcoming Personal Strongholds - Part II
By Dennis (Eagle Spirit) Bracy

   
Bible Verses from New American Standard Greek/Hebrew Key Study

I've found that there are no exact formulas because that would undo our
having to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Also, formulas
account for very little need of talking and listening to God on a regular
basis.  Still, there are a number of things that we can do to begin
breaking the enemies' power in our life.

First, allow nothing to remain hidden.  Sin resides in dark places and
once exposed to the Light it gets out of Dodge, at least for a time.  The
key in all of these things is going to be consistency.  You must never,
ever give up fighting against temptation no matter how many times you
fail.  Sooner or later you will wear the enemy down.  The enemy can only
wear you down first if you give up and allow it because, God said that He
would not allow more on us than He knew we could handle. (I Cor. 10:13)
So confession is always first and I am not talking about confessing just
to God.  He says confess your sins to Him for the forgiveness of them but
confess one to another for the HEALING of that sin. (James 5:16)  Now,
that does not mean to go pick just anyone and confess to them.  First
confess to a Believer of your same gender. This is because of plain,
simple safety measures especially when sin is (and it often is) of a
sexual nature.  If you feel you absolutely must confess to the opposite
sex then do it only in the presence of a like gender that you have
already confessed to.  The only time I recommend confessing to the
opposite sex especially when alone (and I Highly recommend this if they
are born again) is your spouse, if you have one.  Another reason for this
is because you need people that have earned some trust in your life that
you feel safe exposing yourself to.  These are the people that you will
give some authority in your life so that they can release healing and
mercy to you in prayer with the laying on of hands.

Another reason you need to be so picky is because there is practicality
for the why of confession to a brother/sister.  The idea is that you
confess to a stronger brother who is willing to not only pray for you but
is willing to hold you accountable in that area.   Go to your Pastor or
Counselor or Christian friend, and ask to be held accountable.  It's one
thing to tell your Pastor you are struggling with pornography the first
time and another to have to confess it again when he comes up behind you
and ask, "how you doing with that thing we prayed about 2 weeks ago?"  It
does put a lot of responsibility on the one agreeing to keep you
accountable but that is what we are supposed to be for each other.
Be practical in all things.  Stop going to places and/or hanging around
with people who promote the indulgence of that sin in your life.  If it's
drinking do not go to the bar saying to yourself, "I just want to find
something to do".  If it's pornography, don't rent videos from places
that offer pornographic material.  And stay off the Internet when you are
alone. Etc., Etc.

Next, use the truths of God as a weapon.  The next time you are
confronted with your particular temptation began to say out loud to
yourself that Christ was crucified and died so that you could overcome
that temptation just as He did.  Say it like a mantra of truth if that
what it takes to get the truth inside your spirit.  Even try to visualize
Christ being crucified for you because of that single in your life.
Fight Dirty against the forces of evil.  Often Christians are afraid of
anything that resembles worldly ideals.  The problem is that we throw out
the baby with the bath water when we do that.  Meditation for example is
wrong when you use it to achieve an alternate level of conscienceness,
that is sorcery.   But, what about meditation on God and His word? (Psalm
119 and many other places)  Can you imagine how full of truth we would be
if we spent even 15 minutes a day in meditation on His word?

Most of us can learn eventually to go long periods of time and not
indulge in certain sins but it seems that we still never quite reach the
place where we hate the sin and sooner or later it rears its ugly head in
our life again.  I have learned to begin confessing to God that while I
may be abstaining from certain sin strongholds, that I do not yet hate
those sins.  I've begun asking of God to somehow begin to cause me to
hate the sin itself.  I believe that He told me that in order to hate the
sin that I needed to focus on loving Him more.  (I Peter 4:8)
In this world we shall have tribulation, therefore be of good cheer
because I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Dennis (Eagle Spirit) Bracy

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