Kyle Searcy has a passion for developing a new generation of leaders, and he’s proclaiming the “year of the open door” in this video clip. If you need some doors to open for you, watch this video and let it encourage your heart.
In this article I am using the term “religion” to refer to man-made effort that utilizes works to please God. It is very easy to mistake being religious for having a relationship with God. All religions in the world are based on religion, which is a man-made attempt to reach God. However, Christianity is supposed to involve having a genuine relationship with God (2 Cor. 13:14). Unfortunately, it is very easy to unwittingly replace this precious relationship with a religious spirit (meaning a lifestyle or attitude), which is the default position of sinful human nature. The purpose of this article is to help people become self aware—not to condemn or judge them—hence, if you use this to judge others, you yourself are guilty of one of the following signs.
The following are 10 signs you have a religious spirit:
1. You judge other people by their appearance.
God judges us by our heart, but man judges by outward appearance (1 Sam. 16:7). I have heard of many churches where young people have not felt welcome or have even been condemned by church leadership because they had a tattoo, a nose ring, or dressed a certain way. (In some legalistic churches men have to wear a suit and tie to attend church and ladies are not allowed to wear makeup and pants or cut their hair.) Although I believe mature believers should dress modestly, we especially need to allow visitors to come as they are and all believers should dress as they feel comfortable (with moderation). Legalistic churches that forbid folks to attend services because of their attire have exhibited one of the signs of having a religious spirit.
2. You try to earn God’s love and salvation.
Since religion in this article refers to a man-made effort to please God—the motivation behind those efforts in this category has to do with following certain rules, or regulations regarding the outward man, in order to be in right standing with God. This is a clear violation of passages that teach us that we are saved by grace and not by our own works (Eph. 2:8-9).
3. You try to conform to outward holiness without inward transformation.
The Scriptures teach us that God is more concerned with cleansing the inward man (Ps. 51:6) than our outward conformity to rules and regulations. Those that only have a form of godliness without inward transformation deny His power (2 Tim. 3:5). Jesus strongly rebuked those who merely attempted to cleanse the outer man without allowing God to deal with the heart (Matt. 23). In my experience I have observed that very religious people usually have sinful habit patterns that eventually manifest because they don’t allow God to change their inner being. The more we attempt to follow God merely by the letter of the law—the more it will incite our sinful tendencies (Rom. 7:7-25).
4. You are always critical of other people’s walks with God.
I have noticed that the more religious a person is, the more critical they are of other believers and ministers. Since they are so hard on themselves (religious people generally don’t understand grace and walk in self-condemnation), they are also equally hard on other people.
5. Your closest Christian relationships are based only on ministry activities.
Religious people are not only superficial with God but with others as well. Since they attempt to connect with the “other” merely by activities, they are disengaged emotionally and do not know how to connect heart to heart with those they interface with. Church-related ministry or functions usually hold their friendships together.
6. You perform Christian duties but have no passion or hunger for God.
Religious people sustain their version of Christianity by performing ministry or church attendance. They do not have a deep relationship with God nor do they hunger and thirst for Him.
7. You desire position and honor in the church more than honor from God.
Those with a religious spirit hinge their life and identity upon their outward man. Hence, they are drawn to having recognition and titles in the church world. If they cannot legitimately get a ministerial title from their local church, they will hook up with an online course or other entity that will give them some kind of badge or card signifying they are a minister or chaplain.
8. Your identity is rooted in a lifestyle of Christianity instead of in Christ.
Mature Christ-followers receive their main identity in the fact they are “sons” of God, whereas religious people receive their main identity in the things they attempt to do for God and their church.
9. You know about the truth of Jesus but not the way of Jesus.
Religious people make a big deal about the doctrines they accumulate through head knowledge. They make the mistake of thinking that having good doctrine means they are mature believers. Just because we may know about God doesn’t mean we commune with God and know Him experientially.
10. You project righteousness but inwardly are filled with anger and resentment.
Religious people know the entire Christian lingo, know how to act and project themselves in certain settings and use this “act” to gain influence in church circles. However, projecting ourselves to create a Christian persona will not last long. Those who depend upon this superficial personality projection are merely being religious and will not have the sustainability to deal with the hurt, pain and disappointments of life. This results in a duality in which they appear righteous but inside are filled with anger, resentment and envy.
In closing, all of us can fit in one of these 10 categories at certain times in our life. The good news is: God is calling for us to go deeper in Him and experience His infinite love and peace. The only way to experience His life to the fullest is to let Him increase so that we can automatically decrease (John 3:30). When we try to reverse this, then we will merely be religious and God will allow us to fail.
Joseph Mattera has been in full-time church ministry since 1980 and is currently the Presiding Bishop of Christ Covenant Coalition and Overseeing Bishop of Resurrection Church in New York. He is also serving as the United States Ambassador for the International Coalition of Apostles, and as one of the founding presiding bishops of the International Communion of Evangelical Churches. Visit him at .
All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable (2 Tim. 3:16). “Write, for these words are faithful and true” (Rev. 21:5).
On Sunday, Jan. 18, I will be in New York City. I’ve been invited to participate in a panel discussion with Gretchen Carlson, Eric Metaxas, Father Jonathan Morris and Dennis Prager. We will explore the authenticity of the biblical account of the Exodus for the documentary Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus, which will be shown in theaters across the country on Monday, Jan. 19.
Before accepting this invitation, I viewed the film. One of the comments made throughout it by various “experts” is that the authenticity of the Exodus doesn’t really matter. That what matters are some of the principles conveyed in the story. Principles such as God cares for the oppressed. That He wants people to live in freedom.
As I have reflected on this viewpoint, I have two primary objections. The first one is simply this: The Bible says that the Exodus was a literal event that took place in history. And the Bible doesn’t just say it once. It refers to the Exodus over and over and over again. The references in the Old Testament are too numerous to mention here. But the ones in the New Testament that stand out to me are listed in the notes at the end of this post.1 If the story of the Exodus is discounted, then like the first in a long line of dominoes, other sections of Scripture fall also.
My second objection is that to discredit the story of the Exodus is to dismiss Passover. The 10th and final plague in Egypt that finally forced Pharaoh to let God’s people go was that all the firstborn males would die. Animals. People. Rich or poor. Small or great. It didn’t matter. But God in His mercy provided a means of salvation from His judgment. God’s salvation was through the blood of a lamb that, when placed on the doorposts of a home, protected all those inside. All. Egyptian and Israelite alike.2
Approximately 1500 years later, John the Baptist pointed to Jesus of Nazareth and declared, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”3 And everyone knew he was referring to the Passover Lamb, who, when His blood, or death, is applied to the “doorposts” of a person’s life, would save him or her by causing God’s judgment to pass over.4
Because all of us have sinned. All of us will come under God’s judgment. All of us need to be saved from it. All of us can freely claim the blood of God’s Lamb to cover us so that His judgment will pass over us. All.
So the question I care about most is not if the story of Exodus is true. I have no doubt that it is because the Bible says so. The question that I’m interested in is: Are you under the blood of God’s Lamb?
P.S. Patterns and Evidence: The Exodus makes a very compelling case for the historical and archaeological evidence that confirms the Biblical authenticity of the story. It’s worth watching and discussing.
1 The words of Jesus Himself who referred to various elements of the story, including the burning bush, the manna from heaven, and the serpent lifted up in the wilderness. Stephen related the story of the Exodus in his sermon before the Sanhedrin—a sermon that cost him his life. The apostle Paul referenced it in his first letter to Corinth when he wrote of the Israelites who were all “baptized” in the sea. And the writer to the Hebrews specifically states that Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, and that “by faith he kept the Passover.” The writer further commends those who “by faith passed through the Red Sea as on dry land.” At the very end of human history, those who have paid the ultimate price for their identity with Jesus Christ will be gathered around the throne of God, and will sing the victory song of Moses first sung by God’s people immediately following their deliverance from Egypt (Mark 12:26; John 6:32; John 3:14; Acts 7:30-36; 1 Cor. 10:1-4; Heb. 3:16; Heb. 11:23-28; 29; Rev. 15:1-4; Ex. 15:1-21).
2 Exodus 11-12
3 John 1:29
4 1 Peter 1:18-19
Anne Graham Lotz is an author and founder of AnGel Ministries.
During this time of year, we hear a lot of prophecies about how God is going to move—and prophetic warnings about what will happen in our nation—but that doesn’t always help you in your day-to-day life. Even when you receive personal prophecies, it’s no substitute from hearing from God for yourself. But how do we hear from God? How does He speak to His people?
I’ve been doing a series on this topic for the new year. We started out with “4 Things to Do if You Can’t Hear God’s Voice” two weeks ago. Last week, I offered you “5 Ways God Speaks to His People.” Now, we’ll look at five more ways God speaks.
Mind you, these articles don’t aim to offer an exhaustive list. God can speak to you in many different ways. But whether you struggle to hear His voice or just want to fine tune your ear to His heartbeat, I pray you’ll be inspired to press in with a listening ear.
1. Holy Spirit Speaks Through Our Conscience
God can speak to us through our conscience. Our conscience sounds a lot like God because He speaks to our spirit and our spirit speaks to our conscience. How do you know if it’s your conscience, your imaginations or God talking to you?
Consider this example: Have you ever met a set of identical twins? At first, you can’t tell them apart—but as you get to know them you discover they have their own distinctive personalities. As you get to to know them, you can tell the difference. That’s important because your conscience is not God. You can reason yourself out of God’s will by following your conscience apart from God’s wisdom.
When God speaks to us through our conscience, it can almost be like dripping water from a faucet. You just keep coming back to that same truth. When you layer this with other ways God speaks, such as through His word and through peace, you can be confident when it’s God and when it’s just you.
2. Holy Spirit Speaks Through a Sudden Flash of Inspiration
Some people just get a sudden flash of inspiration. They just have a knowing in their spirit. You may have heard it said, “It strikes me … .” or “It came to me … .” You can’t really explain it, but you just know that you know that you know it’s God. Again, you should temper this with other tests—does it line up with biblical principles, does your spouse, church family bear witness, etc.—especially if you are making an important decision.
But not everything is an important decision and Holy Spirit is interested in helping you with even the small things in life. I’ve had sudden inspirations to get money out of an ATM and ignored it, only to discover an hour later that I was in a place that didn’t accept credit cards and there were no ATMs anywhere in sight. When you get these flashes of inspiration, pay attention.
3. Holy Spirit Speaks Through Impressions
An impression is a faint feeling in your spirit that you are supposed to say or do something. Intercessors sometimes say, “You were on my heart.” That can be an impression or an urge to pray. When it comes to impressions, you don’t hear the actual voice of God, but you feel a strong urge in your spirit and have a knowing that you need to follow through. You may never see the fruit of obedience to instructions through this mode of communications—or you may see plainly how God worked in the situation. That doesn’t matter as much as following Holy Spirit’s promptings.
4. God Sometimes Speaks in an Audible Voice
Hearing the audible voice of God is rare indeed. It happened to me once in the midst of a particularly terrible trial. I was down on my knees praying late into the night. I feel asleep. Suddenly, I heard a voice that woke me—startled me—and offered me a promise that I continue to hold on to today. It shook me. I actually thought someone was in the room with me. I could not sleep after that. I could only meditate on the words that were spoken. Holy Spirit reminds me of those words at strategic times in my life to show me how God is bringing them to pass.
5. Holy Spirit Speaks in a Still, Small Voice
Last but not least is the still, small voice we read about in 1 Kings 19:2. God actually speaks to you—but not audibly from the outside. He speaks to your heart. It can be so quiet that you will miss it if you are not paying attention. At times, it can be so subtle that many people don’t even believe it’s God. This is how He usually speaks to me. I just hear that still, small voice, and I’ve learned to know it’s Him.
God speaks in many different ways. We need to pay close attention and establish a pattern of how He speaks to us most often. Monitor the track record with success in this with these different ways. If you are consistently on target with one of these, then you can be confident in that area. If you are consistently off target with one of these areas, then you don’t need to be prophesying to people or making decisions on those ways.
The Bible is the bottom line authority on all things, but some situations are not covered by the Bible in specific ways, like job choices or ministry turning points. We need to hear from the Lord for ourselves and for others. I pray that God will open your spiritual ears to hear His voice clearly.
Want more? I produced a YouTube video series on how to hear God’s voice in times of crisis that you can watch if you want to go in-depth on this topic, and I’d recommend checking out my new prophetic devotional, Mornings With the Holy Spirit: Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God, if you want practical examples of how God speaks in the everyday life of a believer.
Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale and author of several books, including Satan’s Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft, and The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
There was a time when we taught in our church that Christians could not have demons. I preached long sermons stating that Christians could be oppressed, regressed, digressed, obsessed and suppressed, but never possessed. We believed that a demon could be outside a Christian oppressing him but that it could not be inside him. The reasoning I used to defend this position was that Jesus and the Holy Spirit could not live inside the same body in which demons reside.
The problem was, our experience did not match our theology. When we ministered deliverance, we frequently prayed for people we knew were born-again, Spirit-filled believers–and they manifested demons! We had to face the fact that either our experience was wrong or our doctrine was wrong.
We couldn’t question our experience because we knew what we were seeing. So we began to question our theology.
In our search for truth, we realized that in the Bible, Jesus tells us to cast devils out, not to cast devils off. Obviously, for something to come out, it must be in. We finally came to the conclusion that our interpretation of the Bible had been wrong.
Now I am convinced not only that a Christian can have demons but also that there are demons that operate in the realm of theology, encouraging us to argue and debate endlessly over doctrine rather than meeting the needs of people who are hurting. Demons actually help promote the teaching that a Christian cannot have a demon, because they gain strength from staying hidden. They can operate in their destructive ways without being challenged!
Some may argue that a believer cannot be possessed. But the dismaying fact remains that born-again Christians, including leaders, are experiencing difficulties that can find no solution in natural infirmities or the endless conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.
It’s time to acknowledge that we are dealing with real people who have real problems and that God did not save and commission us so we could argue over doctrine. He called us into ministry so we can help people who are hurting, wounded and bruised.
When you come into contact with someone who is controlled by demons, the answer is to cast the devils out, not to argue about whether or not the person is a Christian. The answer is to bring help to that person.
Possessed or Not Possessed?
I realize I’m not the only believer who has ever had an erroneous idea about Christians being possessed. And the sensationalized picture Hollywood has painted of demon possession has not helped. It has led us to believe that if we say a Christian can be possessed, we are saying he can be fully owned and controlled by the devil and will manifest, Hollywood-style, with head spinning and eyes popping out.
The word “possessed” is an unfortunate translation because it connotes ownership, and we know that the devil cannot own a Christian–that is, have complete control of him. But in the Bible, there is no real distinction between being possessed and being oppressed, digressed, suppressed, obsessed and so forth. All these terms mean that a person is, to some degree, under the influence of a demon.
Personally, I do not have as much of a problem with the word “possessed” as other Christians do. In fact, to me the word “demonized” sounds worse.
When I looked up “possess” in the dictionary, I discovered that one definition of the word is “to occupy.” My contention is that if a demon occupies your big toe, he possesses that part of you. It doesn’t mean he possesses your spirit, soul and body. But if he occupies even a small portion, such as a physical organ in your body–as a spirit of infirmity does–then there is possession to some degree.
I often ask those who are skeptical of demon possession whether or not cancer is demonic. Most will agree that sickness is of the devil.
So then, I continue, is cancer inside the body, or is there something on the outside that’s the problem? If it isn’t on the inside, doctors probably wouldn’t cut people open trying to remove it. Evidently, as a Christian, you can have something in you that is possessing a certain organ of your body and is not of God.
Knowing that a Christian can be possessed (or demonized) in some part of his being raises the question: Is any part off-limits to demons? Here is where we can reconcile the issue of Jesus and the Holy Spirit residing simultaneously within someone who needs deliverance.
One thing that has helped us in our understanding is the realization that every person is made up of three parts: spirit, soul and body. When Jesus comes into a believer’s life, He comes into that person’s spirit. John 3:6 tells us clearly, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (NKJV). A demon cannot dwell in a Christian’s spirit because that is where Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwell.
It is the other components that make up a human being–the soul (mind, will and emotions) and the body–that are the targets of demonic attack. Demons can dwell in those areas of a Christian’s life. So when we say that a Christian is demonized or possessed, we are not saying he has a demon in his spirit but in some part of his soul or body.
To illustrate this truth, the Lord reminded us of the biblical account of Jesus’ going into the temple and cleansing it of thieves and moneychangers. The Greek word used for “drove out” in this account is ekballo, which means “to expel or drive out.” It is the same word that is used in Mark 16:17: “In My [Jesus’] name they will cast out demons.”
We know that according to the Bible God’s children are the temple of the Spirit of God (see 1 Cor. 3:16). In the Old Testament the temple had three parts: the holy of holies, the holy place and the outer court. This picture is a type or representation of who we are as His temple today.
The shekinah glory of God, or God’s “presence,” was in the holy of holies. This part of the temple represents our spirits.
But when Jesus went into the temple to drive out the thieves and moneychangers, He did not go into the holy of holies. He went into the outer court, where these evildoers were carrying on their business transactions.
The whole account is a picture of deliverance–of what Jesus wants to do in our temples. There may be demonic thieves in our lives that are operating in our outer courts (bodies or souls). Even though they cannot enter the holy of holies (our spirits), Jesus wants them expelled because the temple of God was never intended to be a place for thieves to operate. It is meant to be a place of worship and a place of prayer.
A Covenant Right
Those who believe that the ministry of deliverance is not for believers need to reconsider their position. The truth is, rather, that deliverance is not for the unbeliever.
What good would it do to cast demons out of an unbeliever, unless he is planning to get saved? Unbelievers cannot maintain their deliverance. In fact, according to Luke 11:24-26, after undergoing deliverance, the unsaved person is subject to receiving seven times as many demons as he had before.
The ministry of deliverance is the covenant right of believers. Like every other blessing from God–healing, prosperity, miracles and so on–it is promised only to His covenant people, those who believe in Jesus and come to God through Christ’s blood. God, in His mercy, will bless people outside the covenant because He is merciful. But primarily, His blessings are based on covenant.
The story of the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:25-30 makes this clear. The woman sought out Jesus so He would deliver her daughter from an unclean spirit. But Jesus told her, “‘Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs'” (v. 27).
In this verse, the phrase “the children’s bread” refers specifically to deliverance, and Jesus is saying it belongs to His covenant people. Those outside the covenant may receive a miracle based on God’s mercy, but deliverance is meant for those who have a covenant with God.
Luke 1:71-73 says Jesus came “that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham.” He brought salvation from our enemies–devils and demons–based on a promise, of which we are heirs (see Gal. 3:29), that He made to Abraham.
The purpose of this salvation is stated in subsequent verses of Luke 1: “To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life” (vv. 74-75). God provides the benefit so that we may serve Him without fear, in holiness and in righteousness all the days of our lives. It is very difficult to live this way without being delivered. In fact, it is practically impossible.
One of the reasons it is so difficult is that demons are not always a result of sin in a person’s life. There are many different kinds of evil spirits, and not all of them are what I refer to as “spirits of sin.”
That is not to say that sin is not a huge entry point for demonic influence. For every sin in the Bible there is a corresponding demon. I maintain that if a Christian is living in sin or living in the flesh, there’s no way he can escape demons.
However, it is also possible for a Christian to be demonized as a result of someone else’s sin. For instance, a spirit of rejection or trauma can come upon a person because he is abused. Or demons may be inherited from a previous generation through a person’s bloodline.
We have come a long way in our church since the early days when we believed Christians could not have demons. Now whenever a person gets saved, we automatically assume he needs some level of deliverance, and we lead him through the process. We don’t question if the new believer has a demon, only how many he has.
That may sound hard. But remember, demonization is not always the person’s own fault. Generational issues are a major entry point.
If we can be subjected to the consequences of sin to the fourth generation, as Exodus 20:5 says, and a biblical generation is 40 years, then we are subject to the demonic influence of what people in our family lines were doing 160 years before us. This means that, taking the year 2000 as a starting point, we are affected by what those in our bloodlines were doing as far back as the year 1840.
Think about it. Even if a person has a great genealogy, he can’t know everything his ancestors were doing in secret that long ago. And if, in addition to generational sin, he has committed personal sin or has been traumatized or victimized in any way, by the time he comes to the Lord, he is going to need deliverance on some level. There is just too much defilement and contamination on Earth to escape it.
We must accept the reality that we have been commissioned to minister to God’s covenant people, and part of our responsibility is to provide them with their covenant right of deliverance. If we deprive them of it based on some erroneous theological doctrine, then we are denying them what is rightfully theirs, and we cannot call ourselves able ministers of the New Covenant. Let’s do as Jesus did, and serve the children’s bread to those who need it!
John Eckhardt is the pastor of Crusaders Ministries in Chicago. He has written several books and produces a daily radio broadcast in the Chicago area.
Adapted from Ministering Freedom from Demonic Oppression, Doris Wagner, general editor, copyright 2002. Published by Wagner Publications. Used by permission.
What is the Lord saying about 2015? How do we position our hearts with Him in the New Year and avoid the enemy’s snares?
The signs of the times are manifesting around us. Things that can be shaken are being shaken. Yet God is moving in notable ways around the world—and He wants to move in your life in wondrous ways you can’t even imagine.
Listen in on Clay Nash, Becca Greenwood, Don Lynch and Jennifer LeClaire in this strategic prophetic roundtable during which they shared what the Lord is saying to us about 2015. Click here to listen to the audio.
Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale and author of several books, including Satan’s Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft, and The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
If you’re like me, you ushered 2015 in with lots of sugar, a few extra pounds and promises to adopt some healthier habits. I’ll admit, these healthy habits are dragging me kicking and screaming. I found it so much easier to pop tasty treats in my mouth without worrying about calories or exercise.
Unfortunately, God didn’t make me with a metabolism that lets me snack my way through the day or avoid exercise, so here are 5 ways I am making 2015 a healthier year.
1. Devotion
Our biggest battle is often in our mind. Starting our the day in God’s Word, prayer, worship and meditation on verses that address the areas we are seeking to adjust will help to reform faulty thought patterns. The truth of the matter is: We can live physically healthy lives, but if our mind and spirit are not healthy, our bodies will still suffer in the long-run. Proverbs talks about this when it says that bitterness dries up the bones (depletes them of calcium).
2. Water
Lets take a moment to reflect on the last time we drank a tall, cool glass of water. Some of us are really having to think. Water is essential to our health. It helps our kidneys function better to flush out toxins from our blood stream, and it helps keep us hydrated so our skin looks younger and healthier. One added side benefit is that it also helps to keep hunger signals at bay. Many times when we think we’re hungry we’re only really thirsty. You should drink 8-10 8-oz. glasses of water a day. However, if you consume caffeinated beverages, you’ll need to drink an extra glass of water for each beverage you drink, because caffeine is a diuretic.
3. Vitamins
Sadly, we do not get the necessary vitamins and minerals our body needs from the foods we eat. Even produce that is picked early lacks the essential nutrients it would otherwise give. All of the processing our foods go through before they reach our digestive systems have depleted them of most nutrients, and the vitamins they enrich them with are not very useful.
Taking daily vitamins helps keep our bodies strong and energy levels high. When choosing a vitamin, the best ones are whole food vitamins, capsules, chewables or alka-seltzer tablets. These types do not have heavy binders that prevent them from being fully digested.
4. Exercise
In the spirit of full disclosure, this is by far the hardest discipline for me. I do not enjoy exercise—I never have. I lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle. But more and more studies are showing the elevated health risks of a sedentary lifestyle, so I am working hard to carve out time in my busy schedule for at least 15 minutes a day of exercise.
It will be easier in the spring because I like to walk in the mornings—the only form of exercise I actually enjoy. We have a nice, steep hill where I live and I enjoy walking and praying. I can’t wait for the sun to rise earlier so I can get back to prayer-walking.
5. Fruits and Vegetables
I don’t know why it is easier to make an unhealthy meal than it is to grab an apple. I can’t explain it. I’d rather make my famous french bread, Gouda cheese and green olive grilled sandwich than just grab something from the fruit bowl (which, by the way, is a full 99% of the time). I’m working at making healthier habits, because the benefits of choosing a fruit or vegetable over a calorie-, carb- and fat-laden meal are obvious.
By the way, did you know that frozen vegetables are sometimes healthier than fresh? Its true. Frozen produce is picked ripe, blanched and flash-frozen to preserve the nutrients. So when you see produce in the produce section that is out of season, you may be better off running to the frozen food isle.
What healthy choices are you making in 2015?
Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together they live in the country with their 2 active boys where she enjoys fruity candles, good coffee and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. Her passion for writing led her to author her best-selling book. At A Little R & R she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. You can also find her at Missional Call where she shares her passion for local and global missions. She can also be found at on a regular basis. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.
What is a stronghold and how do you tear it down? A stronghold is a fortification, such as a fortified city. In many places in Scripture God is called our strength (Psalm 46:1, 28:7-8, 118:14; Hab. 3:19), our strong tower (Ps. 61:3; Prov. 18:10) and the place we run to when we need help (Ps. 31:1).
However, there is another meaning of stronghold and that is something that takes root in our lives as a pretense, which is a fancy word for a lie. It’s something we believe, but it is just plain wrong.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).
These pretensions or lies develop in many ways, but one way is through things that happen to us in our childhood that we cannot process correctly. It happens when our needs do not get met—needs like provision, protection, identity, comfort, teaching, companionship and communication. God will meet these needs, but as children we don’t understand that. All we understand are the people nearest us—our family or those we consider our family.
Family’s Role
Our father’s role is protector, provider and the one who sets our identity. Just think of all the times we take a jar to dad to open. Why? Because he has the strength in the family. We know Dad is the one who is usually the most concerned about providing income for the family. And all it takes is one pat on the back from Dad and it surpasses 1,000 good jobs from Mom.
Our mother’s job is to comfort and teach us. Hugs and loving touches give us fond memories of our mother. Anger, screaming and beating sets up an adverse reaction. We learn basic things from our mother about how to cook, wash, clean, wear the right clothes for the right weather and much more.
Our siblings are our first companions and the ones we communicate with. When my brother was little, no one could understand him. I am 2 ½ years older and I could understand him perfectly. So I was his interpreter. I remember clearly my parents asking, “What did he say?” And I’d answer and he’d shake his head yes. The point is our siblings get us because they are more our age.
God’s Role
The interesting thing is that all of these roles also relate to Father God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus. If we had good relationships with our biological family, it will transfer well over to our relationship to God.
Father God is our provider, protector and setter of our identity. The Holy Spirit provides comfort and teaching. And Jesus provides companionship and communication.
So for instance, say our father was weak and not a very good protector. Perhaps he was afraid. Perhaps you wanted him to protect you in a way he didn’t. It might be that he was a great dad, but there was one time you as a child perceived he didn’t protect you. That got stuck in your mind and heart.
At an early age, we learn to have fear if we feel no one is protecting us or if we feel we have to protect ourselves from someone who is abusing us and we can’t tell anyone for some reason. When we begin to develop our concept of Father God, we cannot seem to believe He will protect us and so we self-protect. Perhaps we do that with anger, control, overeating, overachieving, drinking or drugs.
False Protections Become Strongholds
Whatever we choose as a false protection we allow to become a stronghold in our life. It makes us feel protected for a short time period. For instance, if a father figure in our life sexually abused us, we may turn to food, thinking if we are larger we can protect ourselves better.
Remember this is the emotional reaction of the child who is us. As we grow up we understand this isn’t the truth, however the little girl is still with us because she is us. So she still wants protection.
This sets up the juxtapose behavior within ourselves that we can’t understand. Why can’t I lose weight? I want to, but I just can’t seem to stick with it. That’s because the fear has been stuffed with food and the little girl is crying to be heard. Her emotional needs are crying louder than your adult cognitive needs.
This same thing can happen if a wonderful, loving mother or grandmother feeds us delicious high-calorie food. It doesn’t matter that it was only given on special occasions or when we visited, it still begins to set up that comfort equals those foods. And when we aren’t around those people and want comfort, we go to those foods.
It happens before we realize it. Certain foods or extreme overeating has become a stronghold in our lives. It gives us a physical feeling of fullness that we equate with the comfort or protection we crave. It really isn’t the food we are craving, it’s what only God can provide for us —protection and comfort.
I know this to be true, because I allowed comfort foods to become a stronghold in my life. I paid it homage and allowed it to set up a solid fortification around me. Of course, the Holy Spirit’s role is Comforter and Teacher, but I never got there completely until in the last few years. Though, had you asked me, I would have felt I had a good relationship with the Holy Spirit. In reality, it was sadly lacking.
Tearing Down Strongholds
The dismantling of strongholds comes in various ways, but in the final analysis we must get to the root issue and allow God to replace the lies or pretenses the little child within us believes and then allow the God to become our strength and pour His truth into our hearts.
God always trades up. I gave Him my desire for comfort foods made with processed sugar and flour, and He gave me His comfort and protection. As I have asked Him questions about next steps on this journey, He teaches me. There’s so much more communication with Him these days. I have questions and He has answers. We are a perfect combination.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on this subject. I will write more on this subject. Until then let me say, if you KNOW you have allowed a stronghold in your life, name it, renounce it, hand to God and ask Him, “What do you give me in exchange?”
Will you do that and tell me your results? And ask your questions. They may become the subject of my next blog post on this subject.
Teresa Shields Parker is an author, speaker and coach. Her book Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds is the #1 Christian weight loss memoir on Amazon. She shares transparently and openly about the challenges of losing an extreme amount of weight.
Are you believing for another Great Awakening? Empowered21 co-chair Billy Wilson has his heart set on it and his faith is rising—but it’s not just for America. Wilson is believing for a global outpouring of Holy Spirit. Let this video inspire you to keep pressing into prayer for a global awakening.
“When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you” (Prov. 2:10-11).
When my book, Spiritual Secrets to Weight Loss: A 50 Day Renewal of Body, Mind and Spirit, was released in 2008, the prescription drugs available for weight loss had dropped to only two. I review them, Meridia™ and Xenical™, on Day 41. No doubt the “Fen-Phen” disaster of the 1990s played a role. It drew much attention to drug safety. As a result of this heightened vigilance, in 2010 even Meridia™ was pulled from the market.
Since then, a few other medications have been approved bringing the total to four: Xenical™ (nonprescription Alli™), Belviq™, Qsymia™ and Contrave™. The last one, Contrave™, was only recently given the OK by the FDA after an initial rejection in 2011. Not surprisingly, research and development in this area is intense because the health consequences are so significant. Heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer and many other conditions are related to body weight.
In light of all this, many people are wondering: “Are weight-loss drugs right for me?” There is much uncertainty, especially among people of faith. In my experience, Christians have some of the strongest reservations about using medications. Without question, it is a personal decision. As a physician and believer, however, let me suggest the following:
So do I prescribe weight-loss medications? Yes. And for some people they are a great help. For others, they are not. The same goes for weight-loss surgery. What are your thoughts and experiences? Feel free to share them here.
Kara Davis is a doctor of internal medicine and a former assistant professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She currently practices at the Christian Community Health Center in the Chicagoland area, and she is also the author of Spiritual Secrets to Weight Loss (Charisma House).