The Christian Life is a Supernatural Life
The word supernatural is defined as:
1. Of or relating to existence outside the natural world
2. Attributed to a power that seems to violate or go beyond natural forces
3. Of or relating to a deity
4. Of or relating to the immediate exercise of divine power; miraculous
5. Of or relating to the miraculous.
Sadly, most Christians have no clue how to experience that supernatural Life provided for us. We have grown to believe that we should be independent and self-sufficient, relying on human wisdom, reason, and solutions and thereby becoming more troubled, stressed, bound, broken and maladjusted.
God’s plan and provision was to take broken, sin-sick, confused, torn and weary human life and transform it into a cleansed, restored, ignited, empowered, passion-filled, liberated, and joy-filled adventure.
It is the entry of the presence and person of the Holy Spirit that directly results in the entry of the supernatural. The two are inseparable. The supernatural is simply God giving Himself to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. One truth for all of us is that you cannot separate the gift from the person. I cannot give you my gift of counseling or teaching. If I am in the room, my gift is with me. If I leave the room, my gift goes with me. You cannot separate me from my gift or my gift from me. Since all the gifts belong to God, He decides when, to whom and how to minister His gifts through us.
It is the same way with the supernatural in relationship to the person of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is present, then God’s approved access to the supernatural is present. If the Holy Spirit is not present, any supernatural activity that occurs will not be activated by God.
The Holy Spirit is not a force, an energy, a symbol, or a power. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, the person and presence of God on earth and the one who empowers, delivers, convicts, enables, and reveals. He is our individual guide, our counselor, our comforter, and much, much more.
We have observed in Scripture the reality of spiritual warfare and the fact that spiritual warfare can become spiritual bondage in some cases. Knowing our enemy and having insights into how he operates, and the dangers of disobedience are important parts of our spiritual progress.
We can see why God says obedience is better than sacrifice. He knew all the destruction disobedience causes. It’s possible for a person to commit a sin, repent of that sin, and be forgiven without falling into a specific level of spiritual bondage. For such an individual, his or her need is for the encounter with truth to counteract the lies that led to an act of disobedience to the Lord. Those in disobedience to the Lord need to see truth prevail in their life so that they do not continue to act out in rebellion.
For others, however, continued disobedience in a particular area can open the door to spiritual bondage. Once that spiritual bondage is established in a person’s life, he or she needs a deeper understanding of the strongholds. Repeated acts of disobedience have opened the doors to a spiritual stronghold that needs to be recognized, repented for and forgiveness needs to be asked for and/or given.
The stronghold will continue to prevail and drag them repeatedly back into actions of disobedience, in spite of their desire to experience change. Until this individual has had an encounter with the delivering power of Jesus Christ, he or she will find little victory in simply knowing and studying the truth.
Any act of disobedience sets up the potential for spiritual bondage. Disobedience takes us outside the realm of God’s revealed plan and His protection. Once outside the perimeters of the Father’s protective care, we open the door to our adversary, granting him great freedom to weave his destructive deceptions into our human experience.
Deliverance represents an encounter with the power of God in which the Holy Spirit faces down the adversary, breaks his strongholds, and sets captives free. In many instances, deliverance should not be viewed as a last resort but as a first step toward liberating a person and setting them free to grow and develop as a believer.
The truth of the gospel is to be followed up with the truth of the kingdom. In other words, the gospel of forgiveness from sin and reconciliation to the Father through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was to be followed up with the mandate to teach precepts and principles of Christ and the lifestyle of living under His Lordship. The process of turning new believers into disciples is by the truth of God’s Word.
Discipleship and deliverance go hand-in-hand. Discipleship without deliverance doesn’t take. Deliverance without discipleship doesn’t last. Discipleship and deliverance are a supernatural partnership that must be operated in concert with one another.
Deliverance and discipleship are like a marriage that unites power to truth. Alone, each one has limited potential. Together, they represent a powerful supernatural partnership that can significantly increase our spiritual maturity, growth, and development.
Both deliverance and discipleship must be ongoing and continual. The power of God to deliver and the truth of God to disciple will always be needed throughout the course of our walk with Christ. Both are supernatural activities. Together they represent a supernatural partnership.
When deliverance has taken place, the truth is liberated within the heart of a believer to accomplish the process of casting down imaginations
(2 Corinthians 10:5) and countering the lies and arguments of the adversary. Without such deliverance, the truth never has opportunity to truly take hold, and then lies of the enemy constantly undo the truth.
In contrast, when deliverance is taking place but it is not followed up by discipleship, the former bondage the individual has experienced returns and even increases. The bondage was begun by the introduction of a lie, and that lie was believed, which established a beachhead of deception in the life of the believer. If the bondage in a person’s life is broken and the stronghold dismantled but, the lie of the enemy continues to prevail, the individual’s bondage can return. What you believe will have a greater impact on your life than the truth!! Often the discouragement that comes from that returning bondage can actually open the door for a greater bondage.
It is God’s desire for us to be set free from bondage. It’s critical for us to understand this about every area of stronghold in our life.
Freedom and the supernatural presence of the Holy Spirit go together.
2 Corinthians 3:17 “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (freedom).” A big part of our spiritual victory in this supernatural conflict is related to the marriage of truth, power, deliverance, and discipleship. Galatians 5:1 states, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Standing fast has everything to do with knowing the truth and refusing to be moved off that truth (choices!!). Christ has won a great victory for us in the spirit realm. He’s given us exceedingly great and precious promises. He has openly defeated our adversary, triumphing over him by the Cross.
When discipleship and deliverance come together, a powerful release of the transformational life-giving resource flows from heaven. The Bible is very clear:
We are to be not just a “hearer of the Word”, but we are to also be a “doer” of the Word. James 1:23, 25 (NKJV) To be a doer of the Word means to appropriate it in our life. We can possess all knowledge and still not experience the abundant Life Jesus rose from the dead to acquire for us.
So often we react to today’s situations with emotional responses from our past. Instead we need to examine the responses to see if they line up with the truth. We must ask God to tell us where these automatic emotions come from and tell us the truth about them.
Are you walking in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – the flesh, or the tree of Life – the Spirit? Galatians 6:8 tells us “For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (NKJV). Sowing seeds also involves your thought life. Many battles are won and lost right between your ears.
People have knowledge – sometimes truth and sometimes error.
· Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me;…”
· Isaiah 5:13-14 “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…”
· This not only means lack of knowledge of God’s Word but lack of faith/belief in God’s Word.
· I believe it also means a lack of knowledge in how the enemy works.
· Sometimes knowledge is “caught” more from life experience than taught. Knowledge helps form your beliefs.
Discernment of Spirits – The First Step in Spiritual Warfare
· The dictionary defines discernment as “the ability to see clearly, to perceive, to distinguish, or to recognize.” In Hebrews 5:14, the Greek word “diakrino” is translated as “discern”. It means “to separate thoroughly.”
· Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” A mature Christian prays for and practices discernment in the conduct of their life. In so doing, they have learned to tell the difference between good and evil, and then choose to do what is good.
· Since your emotions and feelings come from your thoughts, you cannot rely on them. Rather, you must rely only on the Word of God taken by faith. Disobedience reaps the “fruit of our own doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). God built in consequences of disobedience as well as the blessings of obedience.
· In Psalm 139:23-24, David said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. And see if there by any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
· James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
· James 4:8 said, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (NKJV).
Cleansing our hands requires repentance; a change of your mind (Strongs Concordance – New Testament 3340 and 3539) and a turning away from sin with a determination not to repeat it. Cleansing our hearts requires us to confess our sins, forgive others, ourselves, and God and ask Him for forgiveness.
A major priority should be to seek God and His righteousness. That means putting Him first in our heart, mind and actions. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (NKJV).
· In God’s order of things, we must take personal responsibility for our actions. He gave us a free will and we choose, situation by situation, whether or not to obey Him. Satan is a legalist. He has every right to our life IF we harbor unconfessed sin and/or do not understand how to recognize and rebuke the enemy. But the enemy also ONLY has the power and authority WE give him. We can lay the blame anywhere we wish, but we must accept the responsibility for our own choices. We must take personal responsibility and understand that we have been opening the door of our lives to Satan and evil spirits. Most often this is done out of ignorance. (Hosea 4:6)
Why is spiritual discernment so important?
· Because it is the means by which we can free ourselves from Satan’s snare. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 says, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient…. In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (KJV).
Satan has taken us captive “at his will”. God’s plan is for us to have the knowledge and understanding required for discernment. Then we can repent and line up in agreement with Him. We can then experience freedom from Satan’s snares.
Man’s free will allows him to choose whom he will serve and obey
· We serve one of two Kingdoms
· God’s Kingdom
· Satan’s Kingdom
· According to Jesus in Matthew 15:18, we can know whom we have chosen to serve, “18 but those things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
· Joshua 24:15 says, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourself, …But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Even spiritually correct truth cannot always penetrate a soul that is filled with strongholds. God can impart revelation knowledge any time He wants to, but His work of renewal occurs within the framework of our minds, thoughts, wills, emotions, memories, experiences and beliefs. He does not change, bypass or override, He just keeps offering His love and truth until we finally become willing to exchange our old beliefs and ideas for His. Some people spend their entire life trying to intermingle their concepts of God with His truth. Truth must be received, believed and acted upon to bring freedom.
God’s Kingdom is manifested by His nature
· Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control;
· And other attributes such as grace, compassion, mercy, wisdom, forgiveness.
Satan’s kingdom is manifested by his nature
· Hatred, envy, jealousy, unforgiveness, resentment, anger, murder, violence, rejection, fear, self-hatred, self-murder, lying, bitterness, fornication, adultery and many other destructive characteristics.
The Root Problem
The root problem is the vulnerability of a damaged soul and its strongholds. Erected by a wounded soul to keep further pain out, these strongholds keep the pain in. Erected by a wounded soul to protect lies birthed from traumatic experiences, these strongholds keep God’s truth out. Satan knows exactly what kind of stronghold you will erect (based on your past behavior) to protect your unmet needs, wounds, fears and humiliating memories. He assigns spirits to access these strongholds, further impacting your entire being.
Satan cannot read your mind. When he or his evil spirits put thoughts in your mind, the only way they know if it has been effective, is by your actions or words. So as you change your beliefs, begin to recognize who is speaking to you and take your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, the enemy and all his demons have lost their effect on and in your life. Remember, if you get into agreement with those thoughts, recognize, take responsibility and rebuke the thoughts. You are walking in the victory at this point!!
