Archives for September 2020

Almost fifty years ago God began a process of challenging me about issues in my life and freeing me from things that messed me up. In the decades since then I have used the steps God took me through as a guide for helping others find freedom.

I call that process the Steps to Release. Let me summarise them succinctly for you here.

Step One is the need to Admit Your Need. I resisted doing this at first, feeling ashamed and insecure about what might be ahead. I pushed God aside when He tried to point out things I had to deal with.

It’s hard to help someone who won’t admit they have a need.

Step Two is to Identify the Issue. This is a bit like a doctor’s diagnosis, and it can be hard to get to the deeper root of a matter. As best I can I dig to find out where the problem came from, when it started, what stirs it up, and so on, to identify what is really going on inside a person.

For example, a person may express anger, but it could come from their insecurity, or shame, or pride, or hurt feelings, or fears, or other prompts within them. We can deal with anger, but if we can find the deeper cause of the anger then more freedom can be gained.

As part of this I love to dig for the initiating event, if there was one. What happened to kick-start this problem? Was there abuse, failure, accusation, trauma, seduction, offence or some other identifiable event or source that spawned the problem? Or has it come down the family?

If I can’t find the source I work with what I can find out, aware that at some later time God may reveal the deeper issues.

Step Three is to Repent. If the person has done anything to invite or initiate the problem they need to ask God to forgive them. Even if they see themselves as a pure victim I like people to ask God to forgive them if in any way they have opened themself to this problem in their life.

They could also repent of trying to live with the problem, failing to bring it to God earlier, and so on. Get the person seeking help to have a clean heart before God, without any charge hanging over them.

Step Four is to Forgive. Get the person to forgive all those who brought the problem into their life, or who built on the problem, or who failed to protect them. It may be hard to forgive violent offenders, or those who hurt us deeply, but we are commanded to do so. My other lessons on Forgiveness might help here.

Step Five is to Renounce The Problem, making a legal declaration of break from the problem. I use the word ‘renounce’ in this process, meaning to speak-off or revoke any legal connection between the person and the problem.

They might say, for example: “I renounce anger and aggression, and I renounce shame and hurt feelings.”

By this point the person needing freedom has admitted their need, and identified something of the source of their problem, even if only that it comes down the family, or has been with them for as long as they can remember. They have also repented, forgiven and renounced the problem.

This means they should have a clean heart and have cleared away any legal reason why the problem should remain.

The next step then is to resist the evil and break its hold on them.

Step Six is to Resist the Enemy. We are told we can resist the devil and he will flee from us.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

Here we tell our enemy to take the problem out of our life, including our mind, emotions, personality, will, spirit, soul and body. Break the enemy’s power over memories, feelings, physical responses, attitudes, choices, reactions, fears and the like, depending on what is relevant to the problem.

Step Seven is to Abandon Yourself on God. Having done all that might be required of us, we can then collapse on the golden pavement before God’s throne, helpless and in need of God’s rescue. We give our cares and burdens and all our weakness, failure, shame and so on, to God. It’s not a very nice present to give to God, but He wants us to abandon ourselves onto Him, totally relying on His salvation.

In that frame of mind we call on God to be our deliverer and to break the power of evil and set us free, not only opening our prison but healing our wounds and unlocking all the things the problem has programmed into us.

And that’s the whole process. I like to be as thorough as I can in each step, covering all the aspects of forgiveness or repentance, and so on.

I have found that some people struggle to be real and open with God. Others can’t seem to see themselves and their situation very clearly. I have to handle each case on its own merits.

I have often repeated the process with people at a later time, once the benefit of the first clean out has taken effect and we can work more deeply through each of the steps.

Let me list the steps for you again:

Admit Your Need

Identify the Issue

Repent

Forgive

Renounce the Problem

Resist the Enemy

Abandon Yourself on God.

God has taken me through these steps multiple times, to set me free from a wide range of issues. And I have used these steps to see many people wonderfully set free.

I encourage you to use them to help yourself and others, and I pray you are wonderfully blessed by these Steps to Release.

God calls us to change two things in order to establish right relationship with God. We are to change our ways and to change our thinking.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7

When we are out of step with God we will be going our own way, living out of our own habits and the things that seem right to us. An aggressive person will have an aggressive manner in much of what they do. A whining person will have a whining manner most of the time. An arrogant person will have an arrogant air about them, and so on.

God calls us to forsake that ‘way’ of living and way of doing things that we have developed as our life habit.

That particularly means abandoning our ‘way’ of unbelief, including pride in our own thinking, and scorning things we don’t understand. Since walking with God requires faith we must abandon our tendency to only trust our own mind, or believe what suits us, and we must put our trust in the Bible.

We are also instructed to forsake our thoughts. Through life we develop ideas that guide us. This is our worldview or interpretation of the world. These thoughts may have been introduced to us by others or be completely home grown in our head. They give us a picture of the world.

For example, some people believe “everyone is out to get me”. Others might believe, “If I beat others I will be important”, or “Life is about getting all you can get for yourself”, or “No matter what I do I’m never going to catch up with others”, or “I have to prove myself to my parents”. There are a myriad thoughts that control people’s lives and as many ways of looking at the world. Philosophers have come up with weird and wonderful ideas about who we are and why we are here.

We are told to forsake those thoughts. God introduces to us the truth about who we are and Who He is, why we are here, what we are to do, what is a good or bad way of life, and so on. Those truths need to be embraced and to displace the silly ideas you developed over your life.

The Gospel (good news) message wipes away many of the crazy ideas that steer people’s lives. You were created by God but came under the power of sin. You are accountable to God and condemned by your failure. But God loves you beyond your comprehension so He sent Jesus, God’s Son, to become human and die to pay for your sins. The power of sin is now broken and Jesus rose from the dead, proving that death and sin are defeated. When you put faith in Christ God forgives your sins and makes you His child, to enjoy eternity with Him in heaven.

Once we have come to Christ we still have to do housekeeping to remove our old life habits and our wrong mindsets. Continuing to change to be like Christ is called Sanctification, being made holy.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification” 1Thessalonians 4:3

We are also to have our thinking progressively renewed so we think of things the way God does.

“Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Romans 12:2

Your life journey, then, involves you discovering wrong habits in your life, ways that take you away from what God has for you or keep you from God’s best. Your journey also involves you discovering wrong thinking and implanting God’s truth, so you see things from God’s perspective and are renewed in your whole life by the changing of your thinking.

Your natural way of life will likely involve much selfishness. That has to give way to care for others. Your natural way most likely involves pride in who you are and what you can do. That has to give way to humility and encouraging others. We are naturally protective of our self and our own things, but that has to change to us loving others as much as we love ourself. We are likely addicted to our own comfort, doing things that suit us or are familiar, but God may well want us to do things we’ve never thought of and would naturally avoid.

Greed, anger, pride, selfishness, immoral thought and deed, self-indulgence, closed-ness, addictions, vengeance, unforgiveness, mystical and occult practices, spite, religion, and rebellion are among things God wants us to abandon, so we can live by faith, in God’s freedom, living for others and God’s Kingdom.

Along with that there are many thought patterns in your mind which God will lovingly want to free you from. You might even fight to keep those thoughts because you have treasured them all your life. But they keep you enslaved and away from God’s best.

You don’t have to fight your own way through life. You don’t have to prove yourself. Human success and collecting things won’t bring true happiness. You don’t need to be afraid or insecure. You don’t have to resent others or rebel against authority. God has blessings for you that are far better than you would ever expect. It’s not up to you to save yourself or prove yourself. You can safely cast all your cares onto God, because He cares for you.

As you receive the Word of God and open to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life, God will progressively lead you to take steps away from the way of life you have lived and from the thoughts you have thought. As you do that God will pardon you and cleanse you, and release more of His wonderful grace into your life.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7

My friends, may you be blessed and filled with joy as God releases you from your old Habits and Mindset.

A sad reality of most people’s hearts is that there is a mix of various things. And those things can even be contradictory or competing things. We talk of a ‘love-hate’ relationship, or of people who are co-dependent, putting up with things they don’t like.

We are warned that our human heart is deceitful and really very wicked. And we know there are hidden things in our lives, such as our hidden agendas and self-serving ambitions.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

“We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty” 2Corinthians 4:2

“No secret will remain concealed, and everything hidden will be known and come to light.” Luke 8:17

I want to challenge you about mixed things in your heart and life. The example I draw from is the Children of Israel in their whole life as a nation.

Israel became a nation as slaves in Egypt. They had God’s promise over them, tracing from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they also looked to idols. Their unfaithfulness to God was so bad God even thought of destroying them before ever Moses came to set them free.

“They did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them in Egypt. But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt.” Ezekiel 20:8,9

When I first heard of Moses leading the people out I pictured a people amazed at their God and completely faithful to Him. But that is not how it was.

“The people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws” Ezekiel 20:13
“Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them in the wilderness.” Ezekiel 20:17

I also imagined God’s people totally devoted to Him as God gave them the Promised Land. But it was not so.

“When I brought them into the land I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices to idols” Ezekiel 20:28

Those various high places where they worshipped idols remained a normal part of life for Israel, while they also worshipped God in the Temple and with the various Feasts God required.

“But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.” 2Kings 12:3

So God’s people worshipped God and they worshipped idols at the same time. That is why God sent prophets to warn them they would be punished, and that’s why they were taken into captivity in Babylon.

So we see it is perfectly possible to worship God and also have idols in our heart.

The New Testament explains that the things we wish to have are a basis for idolatry.

“Put to death therefore your earthly impulses: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5

Covetousness prompts idolatry in two ways. One is that we idolise and seek the object itself, such as success, money, fame, possessions and the like. Another is that we give ourselves to the process that will provide what we want.

A simple example is someone who is fearful and wants security. So they wear a charm or do similar idolatrous things in the hope of being kept safe.

In western culture people worship education, career, material possessions, appearance, popularity, information, technology, the latest and most fashionable things, food, indulgence, ease, health, security, pleasure, immoral living, impressing people, and many other things. These are idols.

In Asia I heard of people from the Hindu faith, which has many gods, who would add Jesus to their collection of deities. Each deity represents a different benefit offered to the worshipper, so Jesus with all He provides was seen as just another god to add to the collection.

That’s how westerners are too. They worship self and personal advancement, so they chase money, eduction, career, relationships, and so on, but they also add Jesus for the benefits Jesus brings.

This is blatant idolatry. It is just as the Israelites did back in Egypt, in the wilderness and in the Promised Land. God was close to totally destroying them for what they were doing.

So how do you think God feels about how you are living?

Friends, I too am a product of this culture. I understand that we are programmed to worship all the things others chase after. We each have to choose between the glittering things of the world, that appeal to our human instinct, or the worship of God.

We each need to die to self and live for Christ, without the mixture of other things we also worship, along with worshipping God.

The wonderful news is that the world and our fleshly instincts don’t bring us any lasting benefit, but Christ brings us everything that is of value in this life and the next.

So, as you reflect on this and clean out your heart, may you no longer be among those who are Christians With Idols.

The Bible gives a wonderful promise of God’s presence with us.

“God has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

That verse quotes Moses’ word to the Children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land.

“The Lord Himself goes before you. He will be with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

Jesus affirmed this promise before He left His disciples, after His resurrection from the dead.

“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20

If you have ever been left to fend for yourself you will know what a devastating thing that can be. And when a child loses their parent in a crowd the feeling can be quite terrifying.

If must be a very bitter thing to face deep life challenges and to feel completely alone, left only to your own weakness.

We never need to feel or fear such situations, since God and Jesus have promised to be with us forever.

When we have that sudden feeling of being lost we usually look up to see where our parents or others are. Once we see them we get a lovely sense that the world is fine again. We drop our sense of alarm and get back to doing what we were doing.

Or, we might move closer to them if we feel the distance is too great. We might even call out to them to hold up and wait for us if we think that’s needed.

However we do it, we reconnect and strengthen the connection, until we feel that all is well again.

We can do that with the Lord as well. When you get a sudden panic attack that somehow you might have to handle difficulties on your own, or that you have lost touch with God and His love and care, you can cry out to Him and reconnect.

Prayer and crying out to the Lord are great ways to reconnect. That’s what King David did every time he felt afraid or vulnerable.

“I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.” Psalm 3:4

“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” Psalm 34:6

Many people enjoy being in church or entering a church building during the week, for there they feel they can be close to God. That’s lovely, but God is actually with us outside the church as well. God lives within us.

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:23

“We are the temple of the living God.” 2Corinthians 6:16

“Christ dwells in your heart, through faith.” Ephesians 3:17

The Lord never abandons us because He is within us and travels with us, where ever we go. We may feel alone at times but we can never be alone any more. The Lord is with us.

That brings a lovely reassurance to our lives. I recall being at home alone in my youth, waiting for the sound of my parents returning from somewhere. Hearing the car arrive and my parents enter the house brought a sweet sense that the world was normal and complete again. I didn’t have to go out and greet them, or hug them. I might already have been in bed, and just rolled over and gone to sleep. The sense of sweet assurance came just from knowing their presence.

That’s the kind of comfort we take with us through life.

Along with that is the lovely sense that our Heavenly Father is with us and He can solve the problems we don’t know how to fix. In my childhood our family went on annual holidays that meant long drives to far off holiday spots. At times we had motor troubles and flat tyres. Those issues were Dad’s domain. He was there to keep us going and fix all the problems.

So too, the big issues are in our Heavenly Father’s hands. He, like our Dad, may assign us a task or two and call us to do our part, but the problem has been entrusted to Him and he takes executive responsibility.

So the promise that God will never leave us carries all that comfort and protection. Just as a Dad is on hand to save us from things too big for us, God is on hand to save us out of all our troubles, as King David knew.

So are you in a dark spot at the moment? Do you have troubles that are bigger than you? Are you feeling vulnerable and alone? Are you aware that you don’t have the strength to get through what is before you?

Remember that God is with you. Hand your situation and your problems to God. Cast your cares onto Him, because He cares for you (1Peter 5:7). And reassure yourself with God’s promise that “I Will Never Leave You!”

It’s a nice idea that we can sail through life without a care and without effort. There must be people who live like that, but the Bible indicates a different picture. We are told in a number of ways to activate, bring to life or energise various aspects of our life.

As I point out a few of those areas to you let me encourage you to be proactive about bringing to life the wonderful things God has for you.

One area is in being diligent about serving God and others, since this is part of fulfilling the two greatest commands, to love God and love our neighbour.

Note also that Apostle Paul told his apprentice Timothy to stir up, or fan into flame, the gift God had given him.

“I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” 2Timothy 1:6

We are also told to be active with the various gifts and ministries God has given us. Some are prompted to serve God in various ways, such as with words or actions.

“We have different gifts according to grace given us. If prophecy, do it in proportion to faith; if serving, serve; if teaching, teach; if encouraging, encourage; if giving, give generously; if leading, lead with diligence; if showing mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:6-8

We are also to be diligent in seeking God, such as searching for wisdom and pressing in to God for what He has for us.

“Make your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding. Yea, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:2-5

“Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, for He will have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.” Isaiah 55:6,7

You can see from these verses that we are not to just cruise through life as if we are on holiday, but we are to take responsibility for ourselves and for the opportunities and responsibilities God gives us. We are to be proactive in serving God, seeking God, using the gifts God gives and moving ahead in life.

This is important for life in general. If we are casual about things and slack about our abilities and opportunities we will waste them and miss much of life’s potential.

As a school student I was attentive in class and so could perform quite well in tests and projects. That gave me the impression I was smart and with that idea in mind I decided I didn’t have to work as hard as others. 

That worked out fine enough in my school years, but I had no study or research skills for University life. I tried to cruise my way through the courses, but simply paying attention in class wasn’t enough any more. That was a wake-up moment for me, as others I thought weren’t so smart passed tests where I failed. If I had become diligent and gained a set of study skills and related disciplines I could have had a much better education experience.

I had not activated the talents and advantages I had, but simply used them as excuse to cruise and be slack.

I was also slack about my health, keeping up with old friends, the small garden I tried in the backyard, keeping my things well maintained, and so on. So, many good things I could have enjoyed ended up trashed, because I had not learned to activate my life.

I am not saying we have to become fanatical slaves to our potential or live like machines trying to churn out the most of everything we have. God hasn’t called us to be obsessive about life, but to enjoy it, with His grace and blessing.

But we need to keep in mind that it is up to us to activate the blessings and cultivate the capacities and live out the opportunities God gives us.

As comfortable westerners we are all likely to take life easy at times. We have many comforts and many distractions, so we are likely to focus on those things when we can. And those things may not be wrong or bad in themselves. Yet we are to also keep in mind that we are responsible for the life God has given us and responsible to do what God wants of us.

God will hold us to account for what we do with our life. As blessed people God will ask much from us.

“From those who have been given much, much will be required; and to whom men entrust much, of him they will ask all the more.” Luke 12:48

A key area that demands our constant attention is our walk with God. We are to build up our faith, keep in good fellowship with Christians and be close to the Lord.

“But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.” Jude 20,21

“Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as some do, but exhort one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25

Let me suggest that you can enjoy more of the power and reality of your Christian life if you activate it, by prayer, worshipping God, stirring up faith, fellowshipping with Christians, sharing your faith, seeking God, searching out God’s wisdom, using gifts and talents God has given you and coming regularly into God’s presence.

And consider these prompts from Paul.

“Be always rejoicing, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1Thessalonians 5:16-18

However you do it, let me encourage you to step up in your spiritual life, taking hold of more of what God has for you, by doing all the things God prompts and thereby Activating Your Life.