Bondage

​Love you all, praying for you.
 
I just love God’s Word.  It sets you free.  Have you ever noticed the devil wants you bound?  Have you ever been in bondage?  Habits so strong you cannot break them? Theoretically good habits are as hard to break as bad habits.  But like reputation that’s unfortunately not always so in practice.  You can spend your whole life building your reputation, only to lose it in one day, in a moment, in a decision.  Doesn’t seem fair, but an important thing to learn.  Life’s not fair.  It is a challenge.   What are most people in bondage to?  11 Things The Devil Wants You Bound By - #1 Complaining – negativity, always something to complain about.  Putting words to what’s wrong rather than what’s right, what’s bad rather than what’s good.  Your perception becomes your reality – a self-fulfilling prophecy.  God’s Word says it. Distorted perception becomes distorted reality.  From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things, as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. - Proverbs 12:14  Your speech, and your work ethic.  Good or bad, what you say is what you get.  What you say is what you eat.  Don’t be a complainer, or that’s what you’ll attract, life-speakers will avoid you, they select companions of like mind.   #2 Criticism – a critical spirit.  Seeing the bad in people, rather than the good, taking offense rather than overlooking it.  Viewing others as not measuring up.  When neither do you.  Be critical of yourself not others. Willing to self-assess.  What’s it your business to judge other people?  #3 Dissing – cutting comments or jokes at someone else’s expense.  Have you noticed some people’s humor is always making fun of others.  Always jabbing… It’s a part of slander, it steals people’s reputation – influencing others to think less of them by attempting to put them in a bad light.  Poking fun at their mistakes, words, looks, or actions.  Always trying to embarrass them for a mistake made, or being different.  God hates it.  It’s the opposite of love – love always protects.  How is it your business to comment regarding someone else?   They belong to God, not you.  God created them, not you.  The delusion that putting another person down, builds yourself up - untrue. The people that will laugh at your jokes about others, will just as soon laugh at you, and they do.  They can’t trust you, they know you’ll make fun of them the first chance you get.  Putting people down brings you lower every time you do it, not them.  God will defend them.   God said we are to build up, never tear down, it’s not funny, it’s a character flaw, it exposes you, not them.  Don’t diss people, defend them.   #4 Cursing.   People curse because of habit, they curse because of frustration, they curse to add emphasis – when they lack the vocabulary sufficient to convey meaning or emotion intelligently.  #5 Anger – when something doesn’t go your way, happen like you wanted, or someone does something that slights you, disadvantages you, or disrespects you – or so you thought...  Some people don’t believe the best, they interpret everything as offense. God said be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry.  God said avoid people who anger easily, or you will become like them.  Anger doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.  Check it, or it will become bondage.   #6 Lust – we live in a culture that has lost all moral boundaries – lust is not God’s plan or God’s way.  Love is the opposite of lust.  God said love your spouse, not lust after someone else.  #7 Laziness – people think they work harder than they do.  The lazy - in their own mind always compare themselves with those more lazy than they.  Hard workers – they deem workaholics, a life out of balance.  God said work hard, with all your heart, for the LORD (not men or money).  Diligence is your precious possession.  There are two things you work at: Your job – so you can buy things, and stewarding the things you have.  Job:  Work as unto the LORD, not for men (or money).  Stewardship – God is a God of order, not disorder, He’s a God of peace, not confusion and every evil practice.  There’s a time to work, and a time to rest, and they are not even close to being equal.  A Godly nation that America once was – had laws and values that gave incentive to hard work.  The wealth which those values and laws created is now being redistributed to those who don’t work.  And borrowed through money creation – that will eventually, inevitably destroy currency and collapse economy.  The current culture and government incents laziness.  You are responsible for you.  Examine yourself, Ask God, Get His plans and do them with all your heart.  What else does the devil want you bound by?  #8 Political Thought – half the nation are mental slaves to lies.  Socialism, wealth redistribution, marginalized group victimhood.  Equity is not from God.  People have equal opportunity, but not forced outcome.  God said, anyone who believes in him will not perish, it’s equal.  If God were for equity, he wouldn’t have given the talents unequitably.  People have different things based on priority, talent and work ethic.  God commands those who are rich in this present age to do good and be willing to share – not make sure everyone has the same.  Socialism is godless, all socialistic and fascist countries reject God and His Ways.  These are all the same and lead to the same place in all of human history – a society of mass incarceration – of those who want freedom, not socialism, truth not lies, free speech not oppression.  Politics is the new religion.  Bondage to group think – has half the country calling up-down, black-white, men-women, women-men, good-evil, and evil-good.  When you reject God, you reject truth, and you are easily deceived.  And the end is mass persecution, and ultimately, mass murder.   Entitlement is a colossal force that deceives the masses.  It defies gravity.  You cannot tax the rich enough to feed all the poor.  Eventually the rich leave, or they are no longer rich.  And then the least poor of the poor – become the hated rich.  If you are confused politically – turn off the news.  Seek God, view both parties’ platforms, and measure them according to God’s Word.  Leave personality out, ask God about policy.  What is Biblical, and what is not?  The end doesn’t justify the means, no matter how virtuous it sounds.  God said woe to those who call good evil, and evil good.  You will either stand with God, or find yourself with those standing against Him.  #9 Substance abuse.  Alcohol, Cannabis, Caffeine – once you are hooked, you squander your resources to buy what you cannot do without.  Justified by freedom of choice, when freedom has long vanished, you’re bound.  #10 Get Rich Quick – The something for nothing pipe dream that thinks eventually your ship will come in – instead of putting in the time and effort to build one.  #11 Pride – the false but deep seeded belief that you are better than someone else.  Your ideas, views, opinions, lifestyle or life choices are right, and others’ are wrong.  God says in the last days men will become lovers of themselves.   These eleven are bondages that are incredibly difficult to break.  That’s why so few escape or escape momentarily, only to fall again into the same trap.  What is the solution if you are in bondage?  Is there any hope?   Jesus said I have come to set the captive free.  He whom the Son sets free is free indeed (free completely, free permanently.) If you are bound, God wants you free.  He’s paid for it - so you can be.  To be free:   #1 – Recognize – if you don’t know you’re in bondage, you can never be free. “ I just drink socially, when i want to, it doesn’t control me.”  No, you’re a lush.  “I just hate that politician, He’s a racist.” No hard evidence, just parroting popular opinion – you’re on the plantation.  Whether you love someone or hate someone, if you can’t say why specifically, and don’t have hard evidence, only opinion – you’ve deceived yourself.  Read what they stand for, and compare it to God’s Word.  Don’t look at what they say, look at what they do, and the result of it.  Most people don’t recognize they’re bound.  “You can’t work all the time, you need to rest.”  No, you rest more than you think, you should probably work once in a while.  How many lazy people admit they’re lazy?  Virtually none.  “I don’t have an anger problem, they deserved it.”  No, you’re out of control.  No one can make you angry, it’s a personal choice, a character weakness.  If you don’t recognize your bondage, you will never escape it.   #2  Humble yourself.  Ask God to reveal where you’re in bondage.  And ask Him to change you.  He will.  See the PRISM Topic – What God Delivers You From  #3 – Change.  If you are ever going to escape bondage, you have to be willing to change.  You have to think differently, and act differently.  Change your habit before the first temptation.  See it coming – and take a different path. Choose Grace.  God gives you way out – take it.  Sometimes its just building a habit that avoids it.  Choose Grace.  Establish a new path.  Don’t go down that street at twilight.  Consider others better than yourself, speak life, and you won’t be complaining.   Soak in God’s Word – PRISM – PRISM Topics, prepare!  So you see truth, and see through deception.   Receive Jesus the Deliverer as your Savior, and the Holy Spirit He promised– so He can lead you in all truth and give you power to overcome.  Repent, ask God to help you change.  Confide in a friend, and walk together celebrating every victory.  Keep going if you make a mistake.  Resist the devil and He will flee from you, don’t resist him, and he will own you.  Move your feet, don’t go where you fall, leave when it comes where you are – move your feet.  That’s half the battle. You’ve been bought with a price already.  The blood of Jesus is enough to overcome bondage.  He’s the bondage breaker.  He will give new habits of righteousness.  PiVAT – get busy doing God’s plan for you today.  This bad habit is not what God told you to do this hour.  Get busy doing what He told you, and you will leave the bondages of the past behind.  PRISM – soak in God’s Word, choose it first, and more than any other input in your life.  Put it in your mouth and in your heart.  And you will start to think like God thinks, not the culture around you, or what the devil wants you to think.  Truth is required to expose bondage and break it.   Have faith that God will answer your prayer, do whatever He tells you to do.  Be willing to think differently, like God thinks, not like you think or the world thinks.  Be willing to act differently.  Do it – make a habit of it.  Celebrate each victory – Believe that He will save you to the uttermost, and deliver you blameless on the day of his coming.  It’s what He said.  You can walk in victory!  Just begin, He’ll give you grace and strength to continue – so your new bondage is righteousness, and your new reality is victory!  You will be bound to Him, and bound to overcoming.  He will do it!  You just submit, and He will take over.  His power – His grace is enough.  He promised. 
 
Love you all,
dad