Last week we answered the question as to whether or not Christians need deliverance. The short answer is yes. I believe that every believer needs deliverance at some level in their life.
We All Need Deliverance
The reason is that every believer has been influenced by the world in which we live. The range of deliverance can be small to great. If you’ve been influenced by a spirit of fear your whole life, you have convinced yourself that you are being cautious and wise, when in reality you are being subtly, or not too subtly, moved by fear.
Yet when the Lord sets you free from a spirit of fear, you actually find out just how much fear influenced every aspect of your life. You thought that your fear was wisdom, but when you’re delivered you recognize it for what it was, fear, pure and simple.
The Scripture speaks of being transformed into the image of Christ from glory to glory. That means every time an ungodly belief is exposed and repented of, you become more like Him. That means every time you destroy a work of the flesh in your life, you become more like Jesus. That means every time you expose and break a demonic influence in your life, you become more like Christ.
A Lack of Deliverance Ministry in the Church
One problem we run up against is that there are not that many ministries that effectively minister in the area of deliverance. A large part of the church doesn’t even believe that those who know Christ can be influenced by demons. Another portion of the church does deliverance in such a strange way that people are terrified to be a part of it.
There are many wonderful ministries that are seeking to aid people and free them from the influence of sin, ungodly beliefs, and demonic influences in their lives. Here are just a few of the ones that I have had personal contact with over the years and would suggest you attend if there is ministry available in your area:
Freedom in Christ Ministries started by Neil T. Anderson.I’ve never gone through a live Freedom in Christ training, but I have watched the videos and read many of the books Neil has written. Going through the Steps of Freedom was one of the first times I used “Self-Deliverance” to gain freedom in my life (more on self-deliverance in a moment).
Cleansing Stream International which started at the Church on the Way under Pastor Jack Hayford’s leadership. The current President of the organization is Chris Hayward.I love this ministry and have received much healing and training through over twenty-two years of exposure to this ministry. I’ve lead over 100 Cleansing Stream retreats since the first retreat I held in Grand Forks, ND. If they have a group or a retreat near you, check it out.
Restoring the Foundations started by Chester and Betsy Kylstra.This ministry was very helpful in adding additional insights to my understanding of deliverance. I went through their ministry process and their training process and received great insights and healing.
Experiencing His Victory started by Terry L. Tuinder (that’s me)
The website you are on has over 150 in-depth posts that deal with the area of healing and deliverance.
There is the EHV (Experiencing His Victory) Academy which has free and premium courses available as well as free and paid subscriptions.
(The new and updated Academy will be revealed in the near future. If you are not already on our mailing list, CLICK HERE and give me your name and email address and I'll contact you the moment it opens.)
There is the EHV signature course that I’ll be talking about in next week’s post.
I realize that there are more ministries than I just gave you, but I tried to limit them to the ones I know have impacted my life.
The Need for Self-Deliverance
Maybe you sense the need in your own life for ministry but there is no place near you that you trust to turn to. I’ve driven and flown hundreds of miles to attend some retreats or trainings.
Maybe it is in between the times these ministries are doing their seminars, retreats, or training. You would like to receive ministry but you can’t do so. That’s where self-deliverance comes in.
I want to share with you my first experience with self-deliverance to encourage you that you may very well profit from it yourself.
I was reading The Bondage Breaker by Neil. T. Anderson. In it he suggested that I could work through the Steps to Freedom all by myself. After all, it is Jesus who sets us free when we learn His truth and put it into effect.
So I decided to set aside a whole afternoon and went into the prayer room at the church. I systematically went through every step as thoroughly as I possibly could. One step was to deal with the sexual things in my life. I actually went back as far as early childhood and repented for anything that I did in this area of my life. I wanted to be clean.
The process was very helpful and I felt refreshed and freed in many areas of my life. It happened so long ago that I can’t give you the details of all that happened. I just know that my life was changed by going through the process.
What is Self-Deliverance?
Self-Deliverance is the process by which you take your authority as a believer in Christ and stand against any of the works of the enemy in your life. It can be a spontaneous or structured time in which you force the enemy to flee from your life.
Self-deliverance is based on the fact that every believer in Christ has the authority of Christ over all the works of the enemy. There are no such things as second-class Christians. If you are a believer in Christ, then each of the following Scriptures apply to you:
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (Matthew 10:1)
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. (Matthew 10:7-8)
1 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest (Luke 11:1-2)
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20)
Unless you believe that this power and authority was only given to the twelve and the seventy Jesus says:
17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:12-13)
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:7-8)
The Power of Self-Deliverance
There is a consistent pattern of believers standing against the works of the devil. You are authorized and empowered by the Lord Jesus Christ to break the power of the enemy in your life.
You have the ability to stand your ground against all the wiles of the enemy. You have authority and power to resist the devil and force him to leave your life. This isn’t just the privilege of a few elite, spiritual giants, but of everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.
One huge problem is that most believers don’t understand and put into practice the authority they have over the enemy. They either don’t believe the enemy is affecting their lives and so there is no need to exercise this authority. Or, they don’t know how to take authority.
My goal is to teach you how to walk in the authority of Jesus Christ and defeat every work of the enemy in your life.
Next week’s post will begin to explain a course I’ve designed that explains the process I’ve used to take responsibility for my own actions and see the Lord heal my broken heart and force the enemy to get out of my life.
If you know that there are areas in your life where your thoughts condemn you, your wounds linger and hinder your joy, and you sense oppression that robs you of the freedom that is available to your in Christ, then be sure to be here next week as I begin to talk about the Experiencing His Victory signature video course The EHV Self-Deliverance Seminar.
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