Are You Willing To Be Shown What's Really Inside You?

“...and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them." Deuteronomy 7:2 Scripture tells us that the stories of the Old Testament were written to teach us what we need to know. "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning..." Romans 15:4 In this chapter in Deuteronomy, the Lord is speaking about the victory he gives over our enemies. The enemies of Israel were far stronger than they, many of them of the "giant" races. Those giants were real. A passage in 2 Samuel says that the bed of one of them was more than 13 feet long and 6 feet wide, twice the height of a tall man. And we all know the story of David and the giant Goliath. The whole point of the story was to show us that we're up against "giants" in our own lives that are far greater than we are. On our own, from our own resources, we don't stand a chance. No, we are to place our trust in the Lord who will himself obtain the victory for us. "...you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt..." Deuteronomy 7:18 vs 21: "You shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you." vs 23: “But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed." vs 22: “And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you LITTLE BY LITTLE;" Just as Israel had to take one area at a time, it is not the Lord's way to set us free all at once. One thing I've learned in my own walk through deliverance is that before the deliverance takes place, the Lord has to prepare us. He shows us the depth of sin and bondage holding us, and sometimes - and this was often my case - the things holding us are things we weren't even aware of. He needs to make us ready to acknowledge the evil as he shows us just how evil a particular enemy is. It can be shocking. Every deliverance is a story, a story of how God makes us ready to maintain the deliverance once he sets us free. When I came to the Lord and was taught about deliverance, I presented to the Lord the things I wanted him to set me free of. But he said no, let's start with this instead, and he showed me "this." The "this" was something I knew nothing about, but something that I later realized absolutely needed to be taken care of before we even thought of addressing other things. The victory is the Lord's, and HE leads the battle, not us. Our only part is to cooperate with him, and there's far more to this cooperation than one might think, because it's going to be a challenge to long-held ideas, long-held deception, long-held ways. It's a true battle to come out of deception and put down our resistance which is rooted in pride. When the Lord shows us what's in us, it truly is shocking. Any vestige of pride has to go. In order to get the victory, the enemy's king has to be brought down. This will usually be painful, because you've lived with that "king" a very long time, perhaps from childhood. It's "a familiar spirit," something you haven't ever questioned or even thought was wrong, because it's so familiar to you. You're used to it. But in order to set you free, that king has to fall. Again, it won't be your doing, it is the Lord who leads the battle. It is the Lord who gives the victory. vs 23-24: “But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. And he will deliver their kings into your hand..." Once you have been set free, you have to destroy all that was associated with that enemy. God warns you not ever to have anything to do with it again, you must utterly destroy it. Has God set you free from drug abuse? You must utterly stay away from all that has to do with acquiring drugs, including friends who aided and abetted you in drug use. Has God set you free from pornography? You must never again go near that snare, you must throw out every vestige of porn from your house and never go near it again. "Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing." Deuteronomy 7:26 If you do slide back, you'll be back ensnared again and it will be worse than it was before: "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he (the evil spirit that was cast out) goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first." Matthew 12:45 A human being can be afflicted in body and also in soul. Jesus casted out spirits of deafness, spirits of dumbness, spirits of lameness, showing us that SOMETIMES afflictions in our bodies are demonic in origin. King Saul had a spirit that afflicted him in his soul, his mind. He would bring David to play music for him because when David played, the torment would ease. These things are real. The Gospel of Mark shows that 1/3 of Jesus's ministry was casting out demons. He didn't send the deaf person to a doctor to get hearing aids. He casted out the SPIRIT that was the cause of the deafness. Demons are real and this is a subject pathetically overlooked by the church. Many people are suffering at the hands of demonic torment, and nice words are not going to set them free. Persuasion won't set them free. You can't persuade a demon, you can't control a demon, you can't train a demon, you can't re-educate a demon. It has to be cast out. How? Present yourself before the Lord in total humility. Profess your willingness to be shown things you don't want to see. Confess what he shows you to confess. And ASK. Ask him to set you free, not only from the presenting problem, but from all that goes along with it, all that goes before it, some of which you won't be aware of until he shows you. Father, it is my prayer that those reading this who are in bondage to, or tormented by demonic holds on them, I ask that you would show them that. Show them the nature of their affliction. I pray grace for them to cooperate with you as you lead them to freedom. Help them to understand that YOU are the deliverer and that they need to to cooperate with you as you lead them toward a deliverance that can be maintained. I pray patience for them. Protect them from discouragement in the face of enemies that they know are far too strong for them. Wrap them in your love. Stand by them every minute. Strengthen them to do all you ask of them, whether it be confession of sin or perhaps the willingness to part with things in their home or on their person that they're reluctant to part with. And heal them, Lord. Heal them of the damage done inside them. Let their deliverance be a testimony as their hearts swell with awe of you and gratitude and love for you as they reach out to others - bringing them the hope of deliverance and healing. In Jesus's Name. Amen.