River Church NOLA
Wed Nov 20
  • Forever
  • Set A Fire
  • You Are My All In All
  • Revelation Song
  • Intro
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    Know God
    Find Freedom
    Discover Your Purpose
    Make a Difference
    This is the Spiritual Journey we want to take you on. Many of us need to get going in our walk with the Lord.
    This message is a find freedom message.
    Finding Freedom is one of the ministries Jesus did…
    ​
    Luke 4:18 NIV
    18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
    This is the first step… to know god.
    Look what Jesus did…
    Acts 10:38 NLT
    38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
    Jesus had a ministry of deliverance… he set people who were oppressed by the devil… free. This is Freedom. We all have something.
    Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
    1 John 3:8 NLT
    8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
    We all need to find freedom. I don’t know when I will do it, but next year we will offer a small group we will call Freedom.
    Joel 2:12 NLT
    12 That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
    We will do 21 Days of prayer and Fasting in January.
    Joel 2:25 NLT
    25 The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
    How many want something you lost … BACK? God wants to give you back the things the devil has stolen from you.

    Strongholds grip too many people.

    Theme verse for Breaking Free
    2 Corinthians 10:3–5 NIV
    3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
    Most of us have something, that’s a stronghold in your life. It may not be an addiction, but a stronghold. You are going to heaven, but there is something that just won’t let you go.
    Arguments and pretension or pretending. These arguments set themselves up against God’s truth… and his truth about you. God has a truth about who you are that the enemy doesn’t want you to know.
    Def of Stronghold…

    Stronghold - A prisoner locked by deception Living life by something that’s not true

    It feels like it has power, but it really doesn’t.
    ILL of Elephant. Chain him to the ground and after a while, they just use a rope that he could easily break, he just doesn’t know he can.
    This series is to who you that you can break free. Do you believe that… this can be your best year up.
    Here is another definition of a stronghold…
    “Anything that exalts itself in our minds, pretending to be bigger or more powerful than our God.”
    The devil can only pretend.
    Elizabeth Smart Story - David Mitchel kidnapped her at 14 years old and held her at knife point, took her to be his wife and camped out in a tent for 9 months where he raped her every day. After 2 weeks he had her convinced she could not be free. One time, at a library, the police walked up to him asking about a little girl. She stayed quiet because she was convinced that he would and could kill everyone. She could have been totally free, but she was convinced that he could kill everyone in the Library. She was 2 feet from Deliverance.
    That’s exactly what people go through. We are so close to our freedom. We are the same way. We have been lied to by the devil for so long, we are convinced it’s the truth. We have the power not him but we are convinced he has it. But when we believe the lies, we empower the liar.
    When you have a stronghold, you will know it.

    Symptoms of a Stronghold

    Strongholds steal our focus

    You cannot focus. You try to focus but your mind drifts to other things.

    Strongholds cause us to feel controlled

    They will make you take the identity of a stronghold… I am an alcoholic… You take on the identity.

    Strongholds consume our emotional energy

    You will have feelings of hopelessness and depression. It will drain you.

    Strongholds distract us from our purpose

    The devil really wants to mess with you. He lost you but if he can keep you from making a difference. He will do everything he can to keep you from taking others with you. If he can keep you addicted, you will never do anything to make a difference in people’s lives. He will keep you wrapped up in yourself and all of your prayers will be about you…

    Strongholds rob us of abundant life

    Some of you may have even lost the idea that it’s even possible. You may feel like you are in survival mode.
    Jesus came to give you abundant life…
    John 10:10 NLT
    10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
    Jesus wants you to have an abundant life. He doesn’t want you trapped in strongholds… He wants you to wake up in joy… to have an abundant life.
    Jesus bled and died so that you can enjoy an abundant life. He wants you to have it.
    We want you to…
    2 Timothy 2:26 NLT
    26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.
    We are not going to be captive anymore.
    How do we do that?
    Give it a shot. Come to every message of this series. When offered get into a small group.

    Overcoming Strongholds in our lives

    Jesus describes the process…
    Luke 11:21–22 The Message
    21 “When a strong man, armed to the teeth, stands guard in his front yard, his property is safe and sound. 22 But what if a stronger man comes along with superior weapons? Then he’s beaten at his own game, the arsenal that gave him such confidence hauled off, and his precious possessions plundered.
    Strong man - stronghold. Stronger man is Jesus.
    That’s Jesus giving us the process of Freedom… This is a shortened version of FREEDOM.

    1. We have to take back our thought life

    We have to take our thought life back. Maybe in January, fast from media or anything that brings you down. Food fasting is good because it disciplines our flesh. But you probably ought to do some sort of media fast… anything that brings you down.
    Listen. You cannot overcome the enemy unless you do this. Paul said this in
    Romans 8:5–6 NLT
    5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
    Romans 8:5–6 “5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things,
    Paul is saying that when we are dominated by our sinful nature, or a stronghold in our lives, we think about sinful things… all the time.
    Lust… greed… revenge… the next drink…
    You may be doing ok and then a commercial comes on… or you hear a sound that triggers something.
    but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
    They think about things that please God. They change their thoughts.
    6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.
    Everything dies… dreams… relationships… careers… potential…
    But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
    This is important because it becomes a mindset that we have to change. A mindset is a certain set of beliefs or thoughts about life.
    A mindset…
    Determines we act.
    Motivates to act in a certain manner
    Influences who or what we choose as a source of knowledge and authority.
    Impacts our view of every experience.
    Shapes our value system.
    Dominates our private and public life.
    Paul says that all mindsets can be reduced to two categories: sinful and spiritual. These represent the dominant features of two realms… the spirit and the flesh (our old nature).
    The sinful mind will consciously or unconsciously be oriented towards: death; hostility towards God; rebellion; Resistance to any form of submission; actions and attitudes that do not please God.
    The Spiritual mindset on the other hand will be consciously or unconsciously be oriented towards: Life and Peace; Friendship with God; Obedience to the Spirit’s influence; Guidance is by the HS; Love for God and others and knowing and following the teachings of Jesus.
    Basically, the sinful mindset leads to death. Death of relationships, death of careers, death in every area of your life.
    Paul is urging us to choose to follow the Spirit, which will bring life and peace. If you remember, Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters.
    When we follow the Spirit, it will sho in our lives as we show the Furit of the Spirit in our lives.
    So how can we choose to follow the Spirit.
    We have to change the way we think. Look at what Paul says …
    Romans 12:2 NLT
    2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
    We have to change the way we think.

    I will never change my life until I change the way I think

    Let me tell you a great way to change the way you think. Instead of watching, listening to or reading things that tear you down, Get in the WOG. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. Take these magazines and books we have here and read them. Your thinking will begin to change.
    I don’t know what God’s will for your life is completely, but I do know that His will for you is pleasing, good and perfect.
    Next

    2. We have to identify the lie

    Is there is a stronghold that the devil is lying to you about? That’s what he does. He makes the temptation look good.
    So what is lie? Is it, I can take this… no one will miss it. This won’t hurt anyone… we are two consenting adults, it’s ok… In three weeks, we will look at addictions.
    The devil is a liar. Look what Jesus said to the Pharisees.
    John 8:44 NLT
    44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

    When we expose the lie, we defeat the liar.

    When you expose the lie, you can see it for what it is and it’s power is removed from your life.
    Next,

    3. We have to replace the lie with God’s truth

    We have to put the right thinking, the truth into our minds.
    ILL - I used to think I was a horrible parent when I would forget to give my daughter lunch money… that was the lie the devil would use on me. Was it true? No.
    Maybe the devil is telling you that you are an alcoholic… you are not. You are a child of God who struggles with addiction… Addiction is not who you are.

    Nothing is bigger or more powerful than God.

    There is nothing that you will encounter that God cannot handle. It doesn’t matter what you are going through… no addiction… no sexual issue… no financial issue… no abuse issue…
    When you got into the mess you are in, God didn’t go… Wow, I didn’t see that coming.
    People think that they are just that way and can’t change… lie. Well, I was just born that way…
    If you look up the Greek for nothing, it’s a theological term that means… NOTHING.
    We can overcome whatever the stronghold is. The bible is aggressive in this area.
    Our battle is spiritual and God is all powerful. He also gives us tools to use agains the lies of the devil.
    Ephesians 6:10–18 NLT
    10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
    Ephesians 6:10–18 (NLT) A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
    Then he lists out some of the weapons.
    13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet,
    Then there are two weapons that are offensive.
    and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
    The Sword of the Spirit which is the WOG and then we pray.
    Here are the weapons. And we will use these weapons.

    The Word of God

    Fill your minds with the WOG.

    Prayer

    The devil is a liar and he wants to destroy your life.
    ​
    Conclusion and Prayer
    Right now, declare that you are going to take back your thought life… you are going to identify the lies the devil uses on you… you are going to replace those lies with Jesus truth.
    It begins with going all in with God.

      • Luke 4:18NLT

      • Acts 10:38NLT

      • 1 John 3:8NLT

      • Joel 2:12NLT

      • Joel 2:25NLT

      • 2 Corinthians 10:3–5NLT

      • John 10:10NLT

      • 2 Timothy 2:26NLT

      • Luke 11:21–22NLT

      • Romans 8:5–6NLT

      • Romans 12:2NLT

      • John 8:44NLT

      • Ephesians 6:10–18NLT

River Church NOLA
robert@riverchurchnola.com
504-578-8317
https://riverchurchnola.com
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