John 10:10
6/19/16
Intro
Jesus said (in John 10:10), “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (NIV).1 God’s purpose for every child of God is that we would live a rich, full, rewarding life. God wants you and me to enjoy our relationship with Him and with one another. He wants us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has provided all things that pertain unto life and godliness.2 But, there is a thief who has other ideas in mind. That thief is the Devil and all his demonic forces. There is a battle being waged against the heart and soul of God’s people. There are all kinds of traps laid out there to ensnare the child of God and keep him from enjoying the fullness of God’s purpose for his life. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” That is always your adversary’s intent.3
I want to talk this morning on the subject: How to Get Free from a Stubborn Habit. We live in an increasingly addicted society. The laws of the land are not only changing to allow addictions and perversion, but to actually promote the bondage. Instead of guiding our nation toward healthy, natural behavior; our Supreme Court forces businesses, by law, to accommodate sexual perversions and deviant behavior. It’s as if the gatekeepers have opened the door to every unclean, defiled spirit and said, “Come on in.” America is being invaded by wickedness like never before. And that is affecting many Christians, especially through the privacy of the Internet.
As a pastor, I deal with a lot of sincere Christians who have gotten trapped in destructive habits. There is a desire to get free. But it is not always easy to do. Nancy Reagan’s slogan, “Just say no” might work if you’ve not gotten addicted. But once the habit has formed, it’s simply not enough.
This obviously won’t be comprehensive; but I want to provide some insight on how we can stay free and how we can help others be free. How to Get Free from a Stubborn Habit:
1. Realize how much destruction it will ultimately bring in your life.
The Devil is a liar. He has been one from the beginning. He brings people into bondage through deception. He told Eve she would be better off if she disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit. He convinced her it was a good idea. An effective trap always has enticing bait. What causes a fish to bit is the deception of the bait. He only sees the worm wiggling in the water. It’s only after he bites that he discovers there’s a hook in there.
The Bible says there is pleasure in sin for a season (Heb. 11:25). There are basically two attractions: thrill and comfort. In our stressful society people seek comfort, relief from the pressures. God has provided us with all kinds of legitimate comforts: the tender kiss of a spouse, a hug from a grandchild, a working air conditioner, a mattress that’s not too firm and not too soft. We could go on and on; and of course He Himself is the God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3). But when we find too much of our comfort in food, then it becomes gluttony. When we retreat into a bottle of alcohol every night, it becomes alcoholism. Comfort and stress reduction is a lure. On the other side is thrill and ecstasy—feeling high. The kleptomaniac experiences it when shop lifting. The sex addict experiences it briefly and then feels the remorse latter. Drugs like meth and crack offer the addict a euphoric experience. These are just some of the extremes to illustrate the attraction. In my experience, the most common addiction among Christian men is pornography; and the most common addiction among Christian women is prescription drugs. A Christian woman is less likely to go to an illegal drug dealer than a doctor; and a Christian man is less likely to go to a prostitute than a pornographic website. We do have a problem in the church with these things.
So the Devil lures a person into an addiction with the lie that the reward is greater than the cost. It’s usually based on a very short-sighted mentality. That deception has to be broken if the person is going to get free and stay free. The consequences of the habit have to be felt to the extent that the person genuinely decides “I want out of this and I want out of it bad.” There has to come that epiphany because the human will is always involved.
The first step toward recovery in the Twelve Step Program is “We admitted that we were powerless over our problems and that our lives had become unmanageable.”4 I have to begin with an acknowledgement that I have a problem and I can’t fix it on my own.
1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I’m amazed at how many Christians read their Bibles leaving the word “if” out of the text. God will deliver you; but you will have to get real honest about how you got into the mess. You may be a victim; but you’re still responsible for how you responded to all that. Listen to Joyce Myers’ testimony. She was severely victimized; but when she gave it all to God, He delivered her. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” As long as you’re a victim (and only a victim) you will not get free. The key to your freedom is confessing your sin and forgiving those who have harmed you.
Do you see the destruction this is going to ultimately bring in your life? Will it sabotage your relationships with loved ones? Will it rob you of the anointing of God? Will it keep you from fulfilling God’s call on your life? . “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” If the Devil has put a bondage on your life, that’s the kind of stuff he has in mind. Look at the end of the matter and then decide whether you want to get free. You have to make that choice. Other people can support you; but until you decide enough is enough, they’re wasting their time and energy.
One day the Prodigal son “came to himself.”5 There came a point in time when he fully realized the insanity of his behavior. His father’s heart was full of love; but it was also full of wisdom. You don’t see that father chasing after the son, trying to maneuver him back to the farm. No, that would be at best a temporary fix. The father waited until the son felt the full impact and consequence of his own folly. The father waited for the son to come to repentance in his mind—to see it different than the way he had seen it. To say to himself, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you…” (Luke 15:18). That son had to turn from his sin and go to the father.
1. Realize the Destruction it Will Ultimately Bring.
2. Ask God to Deliver You.
See the humility in the Prodigal son. He came to his father asking for help. Pride is a major barrier to deliverance. “God resists the proud But gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).
James said, “…you do not have, because you do not ask” (4:2). Step 2 in the Twelve Step Program is “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”6 That is the prelude to asking. If that Power is anything or anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ, it is idolatry and an abomination to the Lord. There is only one power that can restore you to sanity, and His name is Jesus. There is salvation in no other name.7
3. Turn Your Life Over to God.
Acknowledge your own inability to run your life independent of God. Acknowledge your inability to break the habit by your own willpower.
In my experience of helping people get free, this is the crucial issue: Will you turn your life over to the Lordship of Christ or do you want Him to just rid you of the habit so you can go on with your selfish life? He won’t do the latter, even if you add a bunch of tears to the request.
Most of the time a particular behavior or habit has become very painful in the person’s life. The individual would genuinely like to be rid of the problem; but he wants to retain control of all the rest.
God requires more. In Luke 14:27 Jesus said, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Verse 33 “…whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
Bondage is about something lording it over you. If you are your own lord, it will likely continue to do so, because it has already defeated you. But if you surrender that lordship to One who is greater than all, then the other lords have to flee.
Half-hearted commitment will not result in sustained deliverance. James 1:6-8 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
How often do people come to God double-minded and half-hearted and leave wondering why it didn’t work? There is no shortage of power on God’s side. The problem is the lack of wholehearted commitment on the human side.
Listen for the word “all” in these passages.
Jer. 29:13-14 “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity….”
Matt 22:37 “Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'”
Josh. 22:5 “But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
So there needs to be a surrender of the whole life to the Lord, not just the negative habit.
4. Repent of any Sin that Opened the Door to the Bondage.
Most stubborn habits have two components. There are the works of the flesh that have to be dealt with and there are the demons who have capitalized on the situation. When we get down to helping people get permanently free, we have to deal with both of those.
The demons are there because a door has been opened for them to come on the scene. That open door may have come through generational sin; it may have come during a traumatic event; it may have come via contact with the occult. We do not have time to articulate the many ways the demonic enters. The most common way is personal, persistent sin. A person finds some substance or activity that feels good to the flesh and is contrary to the will of God. That person goes back to that over and over; and at some point, a demon steps in and reinforces the behavior. The person then finds it not so easy to control the behavior. And there are different levels of demonic influence.
Do you think it can happen to a Christian? I know it can! The unfortunate translation of
daimonizomai8 as “demon possessed” has created some confusion. Can a Christian be owned by a demon? Of course, not! But the Greek simply means the person is being vexed or influenced by a demon. It is better translated demonized. And the influence can vary from slight to extremely oppressive and controlling.
So we have to recognize the demonic influence. We have wait on the Lord and ask Him to show us how the enemy gained access. Then we close that door, usually by repenting of the sin that invited it. It’s good to be specific; and it may be necessary to confess it to another person.
James 5:16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed….”
Having done those preparations,
5. Expel any demonic influence that has attached itself to the problem.
The power to do that is based on submission to the Lord Jesus Christ and faith in His victory at the cross. Any Christian has authority to do that. However, the exercise of that authority depends on submission. It not just magic words. James 4:7 “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The crucial step is submitting to God. Then, we do have to assert the authority of Christ and command the usurper to leave.
It is often a good idea to get someone to help you do that—especially if you’re dealing with a deeply rooted habit. When I pray for someone’s deliverance, I want that person’s will involved in the process. I don’t want passivity. I want the individual to clearly choose the deliverance, ask God for freedom, and tell the devil to go. I’ll usually have them pray along those lines; then I’ll pray over them and assert the freedom.9
It’s hard to get free from a bondage if you let the demons hang around. You get rid of them!
6. Build walls/barriers against reentry.
Make whatever changes you can to make it inconvenient and difficult to commit the sin again. That could include things like cancelling your cable subscription; working with your doctor to get off pain pills; finding an accountability partner to help you with your eating habits, etc. You’re probably going to have to change some behavior patterns to stay free. The alcoholic who stopped by the bar on the way home every Friday, may have to go home a different route. You’re really talking about a lifestyle change that needs to happen.
It will probably mean a change in some relationships as well.
A friend that I grew up with lived in another state. He came to me for counseling because he had gotten sexually involved with a married woman and the relationship was working havoc in his life. During the session he was gloriously delivered from a demonic influence. He knew he was free. God spoke a strong prophetic word. I instructed him to have no more contact with the woman. Don’t see her at all. Don’t even talk with her on the phone. It is completely over at this moment. He wanted to meet with her and explain why he would not see her again. The Lord said, “No, have no contact with her at all.” He went back to the state where he lived. He decided to have one meeting with her to explain why it was over. When he met with her, he was pulled back into the relationship. About a week later he was drunk, got choked on some food, and died. Follow through is important.
7. Submit yourself to godly authority/covering.
There is a protection in that. Independence and rebellion is as witchcraft according to 1 Sam. 15:23. It opens a person up to the enemy. You can see it happen in King Saul’s life.
Relationships become very important in sustaining victory. Get connected to a godly community of people. Get away from people who are influencing you in the wrong direction. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
We need to stay in an environment where people are walking in the Spirit, people are praying, and are living by the word of the Lord. The Psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Ps 119:11 KJV). Saturate your mind and heart with the word of God.10
Victory over a destructive habit is more about drawing on God’s grace than it is about resisting the sin. Both are involved. But Gal 5:16, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” It is the day by day walk with the Lord that supplies the strength to resist temptation. Resisting in your own strength won’t work.
Sometimes a deliverance will come easy. When I came back to the Lord in my 20’s I was instantly delivered from a cigarette habit. I visited an Assemblies of God church in Dallas on a Wednesday night. At the end of the service, the pastor asked everyone to go to the altars and pray. I felt a little awkward about it, but I went down with everyone else and buried my face in the altar. The pastor came over and prayed for me. I heard him pray a command for freedom; but I didn’t feel anything. When I went to my car in the parking lot, I lit up a cigarette like always. Suddenly I realized I didn’t even want the thing. Usually after two hours I would be climbing the walls for one. I tossed it out window. Then I heard the Lord whisper these words to me, “Don’t ever touch another one.” And I never have. I have never had the slightest desire for one since that moment. It would be a totally different story if I had disobeyed that command.
Other deliverances in my life have not come so easily. It was a process getting into the bondage, and it is usually a process getting out. You have to be in it for the long haul. You will probably have some failures along the way. When that happens, immediately repent; and get back on course. The Devil’s favorite game is to knock you down; then condemn you so that you stay down. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin. You don’t have to lay there and wallow in it. You can live a meaningful, victorious life—because Jesus bought that for you at Calvary.
Gal 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (NIV).
If you’re needing freedom in any area of your life, this is a good time to go to the Lord with that need.
Invitation
END NOTES:
1 All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
2 2Peter 1:3; 3:18
3 1Peter 5:8
4 Alcoholics Anonymous Twelves Steps, accessed at http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/twelve-steps-and-twelve-traditions.
5 Luke 15:17. NIV says “came to his senses….:
6 Alcoholics Anonymous Twelves Steps, accessed at http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/twelve-steps-and-twelve-traditions.
7 Acts 4:12; John 10:1-18..
8 NT:1139 (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
9 A person’s ability to do this may vary depending on the depth of the bondage and the degree of control the demons are asserting in the person’s life.
10 Josh. 1:8; Psalms 119:9; Rom. 12:1-2.
