2.25.2024 | FREEDOM FROM THE FOE
Luke 13:10-13 NLT
One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!
Deuteronomy 5:15 NLT
Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.
Luke 4:18-20 NLT
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
Luke 11:20 NLT
But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.
1 John 3:8b
But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
1. Realize your need for freedom
Ephesians 4:27 NLT
For anger gives a foothold to the devil.
Do you see things, possibly connected with the enemy, happening in my life? Do you see stuff holding me back from all that God has for me?
2. Align with Heaven
James 4:7 NKJV
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Galatians 5:16
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
3. Understand freedom is a journey
Freedom can be secured in a moment, but it’s maintained over a lifetime.
Exodus 23:30 NASB
I will drive them out from you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.
Matthew 12:43-45
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
Don’t try to get the enemies out if the person isn’t ready to keep them out.
4. Understand the Ministry Steps
FRFRBB
Forgive. Repent. Forgive. Renounce. Break. Bless.
Questions for discussion/reflection:
Have you ever experienced freedom from oppression or strongholds of the enemy in your life? If so, could you share about that?
What aspects of walking in alignment are most difficult for you?
What steps to freedom seem the most difficult or intimidating to you? Why?
What discipleship “journey” steps might God be leading you to take as you establish fruitfulness in the aspects of your life He is brining increased freedom?
Do you suspect an aspect of your life that may need increased freedom?