There is Freedom

Through some research from this website and others like it, listening to the Holy Spirit and searching scripture, I experienced a profound epiphany.

There are two types of strongholds that you can have in your life: an incorrect view of God and an incorrect view of yourself.

My problem does not lie in seeing God in an incorrect light. I do fall short of seeing God in his entirety, but I do not see him as only a judge or only a taskmaster who is keeping score of my sins. My problem lies in the incorrect view of myself. The rejection and abandonement that rocked my world as a child created a wound that lead to a stronghold of incompetence and fear of failure.

John 8:31-34 says "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Jesus didn't just die to forgive us of our sins, but also to deliver us from the power of sin!  Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He took all of the sin that we had created, are participating in, are thinking about participating in and all of the sin that we will commit in the future, and completely took the blame and the punishment. We have been made blameless by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. A saint is defined as a person recognized as holy or virtuous.When God looks at us now, he doesn't see all of that sin, but he sees Jesus; the perfect one who took our place. Yet instead of being a saint and living in the victory I have in Christ, I often times fall into the rut of just merely being a forgiven sinner. I know that I am forgiven because of scripture like this: Ephesians 1:7-14 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight  making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,  so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

Then why is guilt, incompetance, fear of failure, fear of abandonement and fear of rejection so prevelent in my thoughts? Because I am allowing them to be a stronghold in my life. I all too often speak self-curses in my life and open the door for all sorts of evil, doubt and insecurity to come in and get comfortable. I used to point fingers with anger and say that it was my mom's fault or someone else's fault for creating the wound in the first place. My thought process was that if they hadn't created the wound, then I wouldn't be in the thought process that I was at that moment. Well, I have since gotten past those moments and no longer hold thoughts of bitterness or anger towards my mom, dad, or anyone in my past. However, I still have this stronghold of the incorrect view of myself and my worth. More often than not, I believe that God's word is true, but I don't understand how someone as perfect as He is could love someone as tarnished as me. Instead of just being humbled and grateful for the incredible gift of freedom and salvation, I allow this stronghold of incompetence and over self-evaluation to dwell and cook up a nasty recipe that stalls/stumps my growth.

The first step in solving a problem is identifying the problem:
    What are my wounds? rejection, abandonement, incompetence
    What are my strongholds? seeing myself incorrectly

And then you have to do something about it.
Well, what did my God do? He sent Jesus to die on the cross to not only bear the weight of sin but deliver us from the bondage of sin. We have the victory over every sin, every temptation, every type of evil. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor 15:57 We have the power of the Holy Spirit of the living God in us and we sit idle worrying about things that we ALREADY have the victory over.

Wake up and claim your victory! (And I'm talking to myself too) Addiction, guilt, temptation, heartbreak, rejection, abandonement, fear, physical and mental illness, hatred, resentment - all of that was nailed to the cross and we have the freedom in Christ to not be bound anymore. Renounce those thoughts. Renounce those insecurities. Repent of sin. Release those strongholds. Take hold of the sword of the spirit and get ready for a battle. Open your eyes to the world around you. above you. below you. There is more to life than just what we can see.