The most important breakthrough that you can make is in your spiritual life because it effects every area of your life.
God wants you to have a Holy Spirit breakthrough which is a by product of abiding in His presence in prayer and Bible study.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIRV)
22 But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace.
It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful 23 and gentle and having control of oneself.
There is no law against things of that kind.
Why is it that we don't see many believers who look like the Scripture above?
God came to give us life and life more abundantly.
John 8:31-32 (NIRV)
31 Jesus spoke to the Jews who had believed him.
“If you obey my teaching,” he said, “you are really my disciples.
32 Then you will know the truth.
And the truth will set you free.”
This passage is referring to the truth of our situation.
There are people who are saved, but are deceived about their situation.
They think that it's other people's problems, but it's theirs.
John 8:33 (NIRV)
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s children.
We have never been slaves of anyone.
So how can you say that we will be set free?”
The people that Jesus had been speaking to in the above Scripture had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years!
Right then, they were conquered by the Roman Empire.
How could they have been bound, but not know it?
There are a lot of people who are not free indeed because they don't believe that they could be bound.
We quit praying for stuff because we don't want to be disappointed.
You can't be disappointed if you have no expectations.
John 8:34-36 (NIRV)
34 Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true.
Everyone who sins is a slave of sin.
35 A slave has no lasting place in the family.
But a son belongs to the family forever.
36 So if the Son of Man sets you free, you will really be free.
In the Gospel if you learned it wrong, you'll live it wrong.
When some people get saved they still struggle with two or three things.
After 20 years, that's not a struggle that's a stronghold.
We need to yield those strongholds to Jesus daily.
Here are three truths that will contribute to your freedom.
1. There are really demons.
There is more than 70 references to demonic possession in the Bible.
25 times in the Gospels Jesus is dealing with demonic possession.
The greatest lie is when the devil tells us that he doesn't even exist.
We won't fight what we think isn't there.
We don't even know that he's in our lives.
We don't know that he's in our families.
If the enemy has entrenched himself in our lives, how will we know it?
We identify him by his fruit.
If you don't have the fruit of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the first Scripture listed above in blue, there is a thief in your house. You need to find him, and remove him from you life.
2. We can be under demonic influence.
Demonic possession doesn't mean ownership, but demonic influence in the Greek.
If a good man drinks alcohol, we may say that he was under the influence of alcohol when he made a bad decision.
Does that make him a bad man?
No.
Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIRV)
26 Scripture says, “When you are angry, do not sin.” (Psalm 4:4)
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.
27 Don’t give the devil a chance.
Don't fall under the devil's influence. Deal with him at once!
Anger leads to resentment.
Resentment leads to bitterness.
Bitterness leads to unforgiveness.
Jesus said that if we don't forgive.
We cannot be forgiven.
If we don't forgive, grace has become unattainable for us.
Matthew 6:15 (NIRV)
15 But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.
We can't live life through the prism of our pain.
We need to change the locks of our life, so the old owner won't have access to our lives.
3. Demons have to flee by the power of Jesus's name.
Luke 10:20 (NIRV)
20 But do not be glad when the evil spirits obey you.
Instead, be glad that your names are written in heaven.”
James 4:7 (NIRV)
7 So obey God.
Stand up to the devil.
He will run away from you.
How do we resist the devil?
We submit ourselves to God.
We must focus on following Him.
Instead of fighting the devil.
Then, the Lord will fight our battles for us.
Here is the secret to fighting our enemy.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIRV)
3 I do live in the world.
But I don’t fight my battles the way the people of the world do.
4 The weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses.
In fact, it is just the opposite.
My weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy.
We fight the enemy with prayer and fasting.
A stronghold is a prisoner locked in by deception.
Some of us are living our lives on a lie.
The power of a lie is acting upon the lie as if it were truth.
The power of a lie is not in the lie, but when we act upon the lie.
It results in pain in someone else's life, and ultimately in our own life.
But how do we demolish Satan's strongholds?
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIRV)
5 I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God.
I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ.
Our weapons are prayer and fasting.
In Matthew 6, Jesus never considered that we wouldn't fast and pray.
We are set free by listening to Him in this area.
John 8:44 (NIRV)
44 You belong to your father, the devil.
You want to obey your father’s wishes.
From the beginning, the devil was a murderer.
He has never obeyed the truth. There is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks his natural language.
He does this because he is a liar.
He is the father of lies.
Whatever Satan tells us, the opposite is always true = is a lie.
When Satan deceived Eve, he was just 4 degrees off the truth (Genesis 6:1-5).
Satan took the word of God, and twisted it just a little bit.
When Jesus was fasting in the wilderness, Satan twisted the context of the word of God to tempt Jesus (Matthew 4:1-10).
Satan has been around God long enough to imitate his voice, and we might not know it.
If we're not in the Word and spending time with God in prayer, we can be deceived into thinking it's God when it's not.
Every step is just beyond our reach and God's favor if it's Satan.
Don't listen to him.
God has called us to be saved and to be set free from him.
This week I challenge you to replace every lie that the enemy has been telling you with a truth in God's word.
The voice of Satan brings the spirit of shame.
Grace wouldn't be grace if we could earn it.
God has given us a grace period that lasts for eternity.
Lord, look into the deepest part of us.
Lord, where do we need to be set free?
Let's keep yielding our lives to Jesus. Its not about us, Lord.
Its all about you.
We yield to You in Jesus name.
The greatest thing that we can do is to put our faith in Christ.
(Tell Him) Lord, I am a sinner, but you can save me.
I give myself to you as an instrument of worship (Romans 12:1-2).
Jeremy Foster, Hope City Church, Breakthrough Part I.
https://hopecity.com/sermons/breakthrough-part-1/
