FreedomSample

THE WAY TO FREEDOM (MODULE 3)

THE HOUSE

JESUS WANTS YOU TO BE FREE. Galatians 5:1 reminds us that this is why Christ went to the cross: so that you and I would be set free. However, it is one thing to be SET free and a completely different thing to LIVE free. There are steps you need to take and decisions you need to make to intentionally walk in freedom. But before we learn what to do to live free, we must understand how the enemy keeps us bound.

And this is where we introduce the key framework to freedom, THE HOUSE.

Jesus likens your life to a house. In Luke 11 Jesus is explaining how demons try to impact and influence our lives by coming in and out of our ‘house’ (our lives). Interestingly, throughout scripture our lives are likened to the image of a house. 2 Corinthians 5:1 refers to our bodies as our earthly house. In Matthew 7, Jesus reminds us to build our house (or build our lives) on something eternal rather than temporal. And in 1 Corinthians 3:16, our lives are referred to as 'temples', because we are the dwelling place of God.

So how is your house? What are you letting into your house? Who inhabits your house? At the end of the day, you are responsible for your house. We are the gatekeepers to everything that comes into our lives, and everything that goes out. So, understanding what we have allowed into our lives and also understanding what the enemy is trying to get into our lives is critical to not just living free but staying free.

The enemy will do everything he can to access your house. He wants you to open your life to him so he can reside in your mind, in your body and your spirit. If he can live there, he will begin to influence your thoughts, your feelings, your health and eventually your life, and there are 2 main ways he does this: either he is INVITED or he is UNINVITED.

INVITED (The Lawyer Strategy): In this strategy, the devil will wait for us to make willful decisions that invite him into our lives. These decisions give the enemy a legal right to access, influence and impact our lives. In this strategy the devil functions as a lawyer; he looks at our lives through scripture and uses the scripture to trap us. This is when our actions give him the key to our house. And the way to revoke the legal access the enemy has is through repentance. When we come back to God, ask for forgiveness and we then give God the keys to our house.

UNINVITED (The Liar Strategy): In this strategy, the devil may not be invited but he will use his lies and deceit to access our lives. In the same way that a robber tries to access a house, the devil will try to access your life. He may have no right to be there, however he just seeks to harass and disrupt your life. Sometimes we can just wake up feeling discouraged, or sometimes things just seem to go wrong for no reason. This is where we can apply scripture and prayer. We have the authority to shut the devil up with the word of God and silence his influence in our lives.

So what should we do with the house? How do we protect the house? What is the way to freedom?

SHUT THE HOUSE:

If the enemy is trying to access the house, the first thing we need to do is shut the house. In the same that a physical house has entry points (such as doors, windows and gates) we also have entry points to our lives (both internal and external points which we will go through later). We need to identify the entry points into our lives, we need to discover which ones we have left open for the enemy to come through, and we need to shut them closed to cut off any further access into our lives.

PROTECT THE HOUSE:

Once we have shut the entry points, it is important to identify who is attacking the house. In the same way that a thief would come in to rob your house, it is important to identify who the thief is to stop them from coming in. In the same way, we must identify the spirits that are trying to attack us and destroy our lives. The Bible identifies a number of root spirits and demonic influences that aim to steal, kill and destroy. When we identify these spirits, it is as though we put up a security system around the house that alerts us of any external attack.

FILL THE HOUSE:

Once we shut the entry points, and deal with the root spirits that are attacking the house, it is time to fill the house with the Holy Spirit. An empty house is always more vulnerable to attack, but a house that is filled is always going to be safe. 2 Corinthians 3:17 reminds us that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. The key to freedom is walking by and walking with the Spirit. Our heart is that as you get set free from your past and the decisions you have made, you will be so filled with the Spirit that there is no more room for the enemy in your life. And as you are filled with the Spirit, you discover the new life of freedom that Jesus came to give you.