Archive for the ‘Living Free’ Category
Posted by owner on
September 3, 2010
Applying principles of freedom in Living Free Support Groups
New activities for Living Free support groups are every two weeks on www.demondope.com
Living Free Support Group
Activity #11
Emotions
Esther’s heart begins to pound whenever she thinks of leaving the house. As she gets ready beads of sweat break out on her forehead, and she feels hot all over. Sometimes the anxiety she feels escalates into a panic attack. When that happens she calls and cancels her appointments, pleading a headache.
Discuss. How will Esther feel about herself after canceling and staying home? Why? What other emotions can have a debilitating effect on a person’s life?
Share: What emotion has caused you the most trouble? How has it affected your life?
Recognizing Satan’s Lie
Satan tells us that because emotions are real—because we experience them and feel them so deeply—that we are powerless and must react in situations as they dictate. Esther’s anxiety is real, and as it blossoms into panic she feels completely helpless. She is certain she has to surrender to the panic, cancel any engagement, and stay home. Later she condemns herself for being weak and feels ashamed and guilty, The demons who are attached to her fears and amplify them have won again.
Hear God’s Truth
The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-discipline ()2 Timothy 1:7). This does not mean that we won’t feel anxious or fearful, and it doesn’t mean that we should be ashamed of those feelings. It does mean that God’s Spirit has come along side us, and is within us, to enable us to act delspite our fears. As children of God, we are loved and supported by the Creator of the universe. When he says we have been given the spirit of power, he means that we are not helpless before our emotions. We are able to break the bondage the demons of fear impose, and that God’s Spirit will enable us to take control of our lives.
Respond to God’s Truth
Ask a volunteer to be blindfolded. Spin him or her around several times. Then explain that you will direct him or her safely through the house to the kitchen where you have prepared snacks. You’ll say things like “take three steps forward.” “Turn left and take two steps.” Etc. But as you begin to direct him or her, have another member of the group also call out instructions. “No, turn left!” Etc.
Debrief, and discuss what happened. Did the person listen to your voice, or to the other voice? What happened when [if] he or she listened to the other voice.
Then explain that it’s the same with emotions like fear. We can listen to our feelings, or we can listen to God’s voice. We can do what the demons of fear demand, or we can accept the fact that we feel fear but have the power through Christ to act despite our fears.
Unison Affirmation
I am loved by the Father
I am loved by the Son
I am loved by the Spirit of God
In spite of my flaws
In spite of my fears
In spite of my failures
I am loved
I have been given power by the Spirit
I have been given love by the Spirit
I have been given self-discipline by the Spirit
From now on I will listen to the voice of the Spirit
I will not listen to the demands of fear
I will not listen to the demands of [fill in other emotions discussed]
I am loved and set free by the Father
I am loved and set free by the Son
I am loved and set free by the Spirit of God
Copy this Bible VersePost it at home, and memorize it
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Posted by owner on
August 13, 2010
Applying biblical principals of Freedom* in Living Free support groups.
“Living Free Support Groups” help believers apply biblical truths about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth in order to experience freedom in Christ. New activities for Living Free Support Groups are published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free Support Group
Activity #9
DEMONS
Activity
Have group members write down the first three words they think of when they hear the word “demon.”
Discuss. What do we know [or think we know] about demons that led us to write down these particular words? How accurate do you think your view of demons actually is? Why?
Then ask each group member to write down three feelings he or she associates with being demonized. That is, if you suddenly discovered that demons were operating in your life, what would your most powerful feelings be?
List the feelings identified by the group. Then talk about why you generated these particular feeling words. What do they tell you about your view of demons?
Recognize Satan’s Lie
C.S. Lewis wrote, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased with both errors.” Satan is delighted when we focus our attention on demons and find ourselves either fascinated or fearful. The more we concentrate on the demons themselves the less likely we are to find freedom from them.
Hear God’s Truth
The Bible pictures the resurrected Jesus seated at the Father’s right hand
“far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can b e given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21), Compared with Jesus, demons are weak and pitiful creatures, doomed for eternity and left with nothing but to scramble around like rats in garbage seeking to do whatever harm they can.
The key to getting rid of demons is not to focus on demons. The key is to get rid of the garbage in our lives that demons feed on, for it is what Charles Kraft calls “garbage” that serves both as an open door through which demons gain access to us and as the “legal basis” they claim gives them the right to stay. Once we’ve gotten rid of the “garbage,” we can use our authority as God’s children to cast the demons out in Jesus’ name.
Here’s some of the “garbage” demon’s exploit to gain access and to maintain a hold on our lives. Beside each “garbage heap” are some of the things we can do to get rid of it.
Garbage heaps Shovels
Buried shame, fear, anger, hatred Forgive, repent, give the pain to
growing out of trauma, hurts Jesus
Involvement in the occult Confess, renounce, forgive self
Associations and environment Choose friends wisely, leave
from unhealthy environment
Willful repeated sins Repent, confess, renounce
When we face such issues, we limit the ability of demons to influence us. And we weaken the grip of any demons who might have gained a foothold. With no basis [“legal right”] for their presence, demons may simply leave, or can easily be cast out.
Respond to God’s Truth
Rather than focus on demons, we need to concentrate on dealing with things in our lives that give demons access to us. Pray together, asking the Holy Spirit to show each of you any issues you need to face and to deal with. When the Spirit brings an issue to anyone’s mind, pray with that person that the Lord will heal, cleanse, or do whatever is necessary to provide freedom.
Unison Affirmation
Jesus, we praise you as resurrected Lord.
We acknowledge and rejoice in your supreme position in the universe.
We acknowledge your authority over evil and evil spirits.
We acknowledge your power to free us.
Jesus, we open our hearts and minds to you.
You who knows us fully and completely, yet has loved us forever.
Purge us of any garbage that clutters our lives,
Make us wholly and fully your own.
Copy this Bible Verse
Post it in your home, and memorize it
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Ephesians 4:31).
Posted by owner on
June 28, 2010
Applying biblical principals of Freedom* in Living Free support groups.
“Living Free Support Groups” help believers apply biblical truths about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth in order to experience freedom in Christ. New activities for Living Free Support Groups are published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free Support Group
Activity #5
FAITH
Activity
After catching up with each other, ask each member of your group to think back to childhood. Back then, what did he or she want to be when grown up? Each is then to pantomime what he or she wanted, as the others try to guess.
When everyone’s childhood dream has been discovered, share what happened to your dreams. Were they achieved? Abandoned? Take time to explore how each of you feels about the way his or her life has turned out so far.
Recognize Satan’s Lie
Satan’s goal is to keep us in bondage. He wants to convince us that we’re unimportant and that our life is meaningless. One way he does this is by stealing our hopes and our dreams. Each disappointment we suffer, each dream we abandon in the face of “reality,” drains us of hope and keeps us in bondage. “You can’t reach this goal,” or “You’ll never become that” is a lie Satan’s tells to keep us from the future God intends for us, and from experiencing the blessings God wants to shower on us.
Hear God’s Truth
God has a plan for each of our lives. According to Ephesians 2:10, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” There are two amazing truths here. That we are “God’s workmanship” tells us that we have been crafted by God himself for specific “good works.” He made each of us the unique individual we are, shaping us for just those tasks that we are intended to do. “Prepared in advance” tells us that God has shaped our future too. The “good works” we’re called to do have been laid out ahead of time, so that as we move into the future we’ll come across them, ready and waiting for us. Our significance isn’t to be found in our dreams for ourselves, but in God’s dream for us. As God’s workmanship we are each fully equipped to achieve that dream.
Respond to God’s Truth
Most folks have difficulty seeing ways in which they truly are God’s workmanship. As a group you can help each person see things in himself or herself that God has been shaping, equipping each of you for your unique good works.
On pads of paper each of you note ways in which you see God’s workmanship displayed in each person’s life. How has he or she ministered to you? What “good works” have you seen God prepare for him or her to do?
Then take turns sharing what you’ve written about each other.
When all of you have all given one group member feedback, let that person respond. What does he or she see about God’s dream for him or her that might not have been seen before?
When you’ve all had a chance to receive feedback from the group, join in the following unison affirmation.
Unison Affirmation
Father, I take up my childhood dreams.
And place those dreams in Your hands.
I give them to You as an Offering.
Father, I tale up my adult dreams.
And place those dreams too in Your hands.
I give them to You as an offering.
Father, I open my hands and stretch them out, empty.
I wait here, eager to welcome Your dream for my life.
I acknowledge that I am Your workmanship.
You have fashioned and formed me to be the person I am.
I acknowledge your right to choose the good works
I am called to do.
Father, I will seek the meaning of my life in Your Dream for me.
I will be satisfied with Your Dream.
I will be fulfilled living Your Dream
I am in Awe that I am so significant that
You have a Dream for me.
Father, I praise You
I praise You now
I praise You forever.
Copy this Bible Verse
Post it in your home, and memorize it
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
Posted by owner on
June 22, 2010
Applying biblical principals of Freedom* in Living Free support groups.
“Living Free Support Groups” help believers apply biblical truths about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth in order to experience freedom in Christ. New activities for Living Free Support Groups are published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free Support Group
Activity #6
IDENTITY
Activity
After some catch-up talking, think of the “most hurtful” thing anyone has ever said or done to you. After each has briefly shared his or her “most hurtful” experience, discuss what made these experiences so painful. How did they make you feel about yourselves?
Recognize Satan’s Lie
Satan use the sins of others against us. Each hurt becomes a wound that strikes at the heart of who we are. His demons whisper, “If he can do that to you, you must be crap.” “If she treats you that way, you must have no worth or value at all.”
When we’re wounded by others time and time again we can lose our sense of self. We can become ready victims, accepting every blow as something we deserve. We can stop trying, convinced that we’d never succeed anyway. We can buy the lie that since no one treats us with respect, we’re not worthy of respect. We can come to the place where we’re so down on ourselves that the “most hurtful” things ever said to us are the things we say or think about ourselves.
Hear God’s Truth
God doesn’t make any junk. Nothing anyone says about you or does to you can change the reality that as a human being you are made in God’s image, and that as a Christian you are a dearly loved child of God. Satan uses the sins of others against us to plant lies in our hearts. We need to grasp the truth that we are not defined by what others think about us or do to us. We are defined by God. One of the things that having faith means is to hear the Word of God and to grab hold of that Word, no matter how others make us feel. In time as we hold on to Truth and act on Truth, our feelings change. Feelings are real, but they are not necessarily reality. Reality is defined by God’s Truth, and we are called to live by God’s Truth.
Respond to God’s Truth
Each person in your group is to read and think about either 1 John 3:1 or Ephesians 1:11-12. Invite God to speak to you as you focus on the verses for 15 minutes, jotting down your thoughts and observations. [If your group is small, let each person spend 10 minutes on each verse.]
Encourage each to share his or her thoughts and insights as you discuss the verses and their implications.
Unison Affirmation
Together, as children of God,
We reject Satan’s lies about us.
We reject the lie that we are insignificant
We reject the lie that we’re not worth respect
We reject the lie that we’ll never amount to anything.
Together, as children of God,
We repudiate feelings that aren’t in harmony with Truth.
We repudiate feelings of inferiority
We repudiate feelings of worthlessness
We repudiate feelings of insignificance
Together, as children of God
We commit to live in accord with God’s Truth.
We will face tomorrow secure in the knowledge we are God’s children
We will face tomorrow sure of his love for us
We will face tomorrow confident that he will enable us.
Together, as children of God
We reject Satan’s lies
We repudiate feeling of inferiority
We affirm that we are significant
We rely on God’s enablement
Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Amen.
Copy this Bible Verse
Post it in your home, and memorize it
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).
Posted by owner on
May 25, 2010
Applying biblical principals of Freedom* in Living Free support groups.
“Living Free Support Groups” help believers apply biblical truths about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth in order to experience freedom in Christ. New activities for Living Free Support Groups are published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free Support Group
Activity #4
FAITH
Activity
Materials needed: decks of playing cards, 1 tennis ball
Work together to build a five-level structure using playing cards. Let each person know before you begin that the structure must be strong enough to hold up a tennis ball placed on its top.
When the structure is complete, carefully place the tennis ball on its top. What happens to the “house of cards?”
Then talk about how each felt when beginning to build. How much hope did each have that you would succeed, from no hope [0%] to total confidence of success [100%].
Invite each person to identify one area in his or her life that’s characterized
by at least 50% hopelessness; the feeling that you’ll never succeed and that things will never change. Share those areas with each other.
Specific situations will differ, but discuss what your experiences of feeling hopeless have in common.
Recognize Satan’s Lie
Satan wants to convince us that we’ll never succeed in doing things that are important to us and to the Lord. He wants to destroy our confidence, and make us feel hopeless. We all have different life situations. But most of us have some area in our lives where we feel hopeless. Often we cry out to God, and yet nothing seems to change. And Satan’s demons say, “See! I told you so. Things will never change. You’ll never make it in this area. You’re a pitiful failure.”
Hear God’s Truth
The God who loves us and has chosen us, the God who has adopted us into his family as sons with full access to his resources, doesn’t see our situations as we see them. Ephesians 2:10 states that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Since God is faithful, we can trust him in strengthen us in our situations so that our lives and actions will glorify him. Because of God’s faithfulness we can live confidently, certain that he has provided for us “a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Respond to God’s Truth
Share one way that God has proven faithful to you. As each shares, let an awareness of God’s past involvement in your lives fill your hearts with hope.
Then pray. Invite the Holy Spirit to be with you in power and to take charge of the rest of your time together. If anyone has been struggling with hopelessness and despair, pray for him or her. Rebuke the spirits of hopelessness, despair and depression, and command them to leave. Then bless each person present with a renewed trust in God’s faithfulness, and the hope that fills us as we trust in him.
Unison Affirmation
God of Power and Might,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
We worship and praise You, Father,
All Powerful
We worship and praise You, Jesus,
Name above every Name
We worship and praise You, Holy Spirit,
Who Fills with divine power
O God of Power and Might,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
We confess our feelings of hopelessness
We acknowledge that those feelings are not rooted in truth
We repudiate them as Satan’s lies
O God of Power and Might,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Your presence in our lives guarantees us hope and a future
We choose to trust you and your Word
We choose to live in hope,
Now and forevermore. Amen
Copy this Bible Verse
Post it in your home, and memorize it
“ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
____________________________________________
*Larry Richards’ FREEDOM WORKSHOP provides instruction on Satan’s schemes and teaches about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth, to free those who have fallen victim to the devil’s snares.
Posted by owner on
May 11, 2010
Applying biblical principals of Freedom in Living Free support groups.
The FREEDOM WORKSHOP provides instruction on Satan’s schemes and teaches biblical truths (about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth) that free those who have fallen into the devil’s snares. Living Free Support Groups help believers apply these truths and experience freedom in Christ. A new activity for Living Free Support groups is published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free Support Group
Activity #3
IDENTITY
Activity
Materials needed: crayons and 8½ x 11 sheets of paper
Ask each person to close his or her eyes and go back to a time when he felt terribly threatened and insecure. Visualize that time, let yourself experience those feelings.
With the crayons, use shapes and colors to capture the situation and express how you felt at that time.
Show your pictures to each other, and tell about the experiences and feelings you captured in them.
Recognize Satan’s Lie
Satan tells us that we’re helpless. He tells us that our lives are out of control, He tempts us with fears and feelings of insecurity, making us reach out desperately for some anchor for our lives. But the things he urges us to grab hold of – money, our job, good health, a relationship – are insubstantial and are sure to fail us, ultimately robbing us of the sense of security that each of us needs to be healthy and whole.
Hear God’s Truth
I am vitally important to God. I have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, who is “a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession (1:14). The Holy Spirit is the mark both of God’s ownership – the stamp that says “you belong to God” – and also is the living presence who bonds us to the Lord. Being sealed by the Spirit means that God is always present within us, his strong arms wrapped around us, holding us close and safe when life’s storms rage all around us. Circumstances may be out of my control, but are never out of his control. God is our anchor, and even when I feel too weak to hold on to him he is holding on to me.
Respond to God’s Truth
Close your eyes and picture yourself in God’s arms, warm, safe, secure. Let out a deep breath and let your entire body relax. Sit quietly for a few moments, enjoying the relief that comes from not having to struggle, not having to hold on, simply being held.
Then take up your crayons again. Picture yourself in the same situation you represented in the first picture you drew, but totally aware of God’s presence with you, holding you safe and secure.
Show your pictures to each other, sharing the picture you created and what it expresses.
Offer sentence prayers expressing your feelings to God.
Unison Affirmation
Father,
We confess our fears
We acknowledge our feelings of insecurity
We admit to taking our eyes off you to focus on our circumstances
Yet, Father
You have never left us
You have sheltered and protected us
You have thwarted every attempt of Satan to destroy us
Dear Father
Your strong arms are wrapped around us
You protect and guard us
You are here,
Now,
And forever more.
Copy this Bible Verse
Post it in your home, and memorize it
“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).
Posted by owner on
April 27, 2010
FREEDOM WORKSHOPS provide instruction on Satan’s schemes and teach biblical truths about identity, faith, peace, righteousness and truth that free those who have fallen into the devil’s traps. Living Free Support Groups help believers apply these truths and experience freedom in Christ. A new activity for Living Free Support groups is published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free #2
Applying biblical principals of Freedom in Living Free support groups.
IDENTITY
Activity
Picture yourself as a house, with the rooms containing good things you inherited from your parents. Take the group on a tour sharing the positive traits and characteristics you inherited.
When everyone has shared, look through the rooms again. Identify one or more important things that are absent from those rooms, traits and characteristics you deeply wish you had inherited but did not. Share this with the group also.
Recognize Satan’s Lie
Few parents are ideal. Most do the best they can, but Satan uses the their flaws and sins to corrupt our lives and make us feel inadequate.
Hear God’s Truth
“He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:4) Male and female, we have been adopted “as his sons.” In Roman law a child who was adopted was severed from old family, and no longer responsible to his birth father. His only family link was to his adopted father. His actions won credit for his new father. And he was considered to possess all that his new father possessed. This is the significance of Paul’s statement that God the Father has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. Adopted into God’s family we have a totally new identity, and resources provided by God more than make up for the failures of our old family to provide us with all we need to lead productive and meaningful lives.
Respond to God’s Truth
Place one chair in the center and arrange the other chairs around it.
Take turns sitting in the center chair. The let each person in the circle pray for the individual in the center, thanking God for the gift of that blessing which will fill the gap(s) within himself the individual in the center has just shared.
Each prayer should conclude: “In the name of God your Father, I bless you with (the needed trait).
Unison Affirmation
We confess that we have failed
We have failed to understand our identity as adopted sons,
We have failed to claim all of our inheritance in Christ,
We have failed to live in the victory Christ has won for us.
We affirm the Bible’s truth:
We believe that we have been adopted as sons,
We believe that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing,
We believe that in Christ all the riches of God are now ours.
We hereby acknowledge and claim:
We claim our true identity as adopted sons of the living God,
We claim all those gifts and abilities which God alone can supply,
We claim the victory over our old weaknesses,
With God’s help we will live as the new creations in Christ
which we truly are.
Memory Verse
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
Posted by owner on
April 21, 2010
A Leader’s Guide
Once every two weeks you’ll lead a gathering of friends meeting at your or another member’s home. Your purpose is to provide mutual encouragement for group members to live free from a sense of personal inadequacy, free from anxiety, free from bitterness, free from loneliness, and free from addictive sins. The basis of these freedoms is laid out in the New Testament book of Ephesians, which is the source of the practical steps your group members will encourage each other to take.
Your role is to provide a warm, informal setting for sharing each person’s story, and to guide the group through a process of study and application of God’s Word to each person’s personal story.
Group size
You can follow the Live Free process with just you and a friend. Three or four person groups are generally better. There is no maximum size, but when your group grows to more than five persons, it’s a usually a good idea to divide equally to do the process and prayer time, coming together again to read the affirmations together.
Launching
It doesn’t require anything special. Just you and one or two friends who want to explore the freedom Christ provides along with protection form the Devil’s schemes. Get together for coffee during the day, or some evening. And let the group grow naturally as you invite others.
Another way to launch Live Free groups is to arrange for a church or group of churches to sponsor one of my FREEDOM WORKSHOPS, which are held on Friday evenings/Saturdays. These workshops are available at no cost, other than travel and lodging expenses. You can contact me for further information and promotional materials at ancient1@nc.rr.com
The process
After a time to catch up with each others, you’ll launch a simple process.
Each session the process begins with an activity that will help group members identify and share an aspect of their personal story. This is followed by exposing a strategy Satan uses to make our lives unhappy and unproductive. You then briefly explore together one of God’s Truths, which contradicts Satan’s lie and leads to a satisfying, productive life. God’s Truth is then applied to each person’s story through further sharing.
Follow this with a time when you lift each other up in prayer.
The session concludes with a unison reading affirming God’s truth and the group’s commitment to it. Finally, each group member is encouraged to memorize a relevant Bible verse.
Commitments
It helps if each person in the group understands certain commitments implicit in membership in a Living Free group. You may or may not wish to ask members to sign commitment cards. But each should understand the following expectations.
1. I will faithfully attend meetings.
2. I will freely share my story.
3. I will respect other’s stories, and keep what they say confidential.
4. I will pray for and support the other members of my group.
5. I will welcome the prayers and support of my group.
6. I will seek God’s help to live the truths we study.
Themes
Each week’s process will be organized around one of the following themes.
Identity The Helmet of Salvation Eph 1
Faith The Shield of Faith Eph 2:1-10
Fellowship The Sandals…peace Eph 2:11-4:16
Righteousness Breastplate of Righteousness Eph 4:17-5:7
Truth The belt of Truth Eph 5:8-6:9
These elements comprise the “full armor of God” which Scripture says equips us to “stand against the devil’s schemes” and to struggle against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:11,12).
Source
A new process guide is published bi-weekly on www.demondope.com, and is available at no cost to those who wish to start or participate in a Live Free support group.
Posted by owner on
April 15, 2010
“Living Free” Support Group Activities
FREEDOM WORKSHOPS provide instruction on how to recognize Satan’s schemes to make believers unproductive and unhappy. They also teach biblical principles that protect us against those schemes, and that free those who have fallen into the devil’s traps. As A follow up to FREEDOM WORKSHOPS many who attend join Living Free Support Groups, to help each other continue to apply God’s truths and experience their freedom in Christ. A new activity for Living Free Support groups is published every two weeks on www.demondope.com.
Living Free #1
Applying biblical principals of Freedom in Living Free support groups.
IDENTITY
Activity
Identify one negative thing that you’ve thought or said about yourself, such as, “I’m not worthy of love,” or “I’ll never amount to anything,” etc. Recall one incident from your childhood when you received this message from a parent, a teacher, or someone else who was significant in your life.
Use crayons to draw a picture of that situation, choosing colors that reflect how you felt when the incident happened.
Show and explain your picture. Tell how this and similar incidents have affected your life.
Recognize Satan’s Lie
Satan uses the sins of others to distort our understanding of who we are as human beings and our understanding of our identity in Christ. Messages like “I’m not worthy of love,” or “I’ll never amount to anything” are lies, intended to blind us to who we are in Christ.
Hear God’s Truth
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4)
God loved you before you were born. He chose you, even before he created the universe.
Respond to God’s Truth
Close your eyes and imagine that as God created the world he was thinking of you, filled with love for you. You know you don’t deserve that kind of love, but let it flow over you anyway, washing away the lie and healing your hurts.
Then draw a picture of the same incident, but show yourself insulated by God’s love.
Show your picture and share how knowledge of God’s overwhelming love for you changes your feelings and your view of yourself.
Unison Affirmation
This night we reject Satan’s lies.
We refuse to believe that we are worthless,
That we are unlovable
Or that we are doomed to be failures.
We accept the truth that God loves us.
We believe that we have been chosen by God,
That we are loved,
That with God’s help we will succeed in glorifying him.
This night we reject Satan’s lies.
This night we choose to believe God’s Truth.
Copy this Bible verse, post it in your house and memorize it:
“I am convinced that . . . .nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39).
Posted by owner on
March 23, 2010
The first Living Free Meetup group has been established, in Fullerton, California. What’s a “Living Free MeetUp group”? I’m glad you asked.
As I’ve worked on the FREEDOM WORKSHOP that I’ll be putting on around the country, one of my concerns has been follow-up. It’s great to learn the powerful truths in Ephesians about freedom from the chains with which Satan seeks to bind us. It’s great to try on the Armor of God and sense the freedom God provides. And that happens the Friday evening/Saturday of the FREEDOM WORKSHOP. But I’m aware that there’s a need for follow up if we’re to build on the freedom God provides.
That’s what “Living Free MeetUp Groups” are designed to provide. Take a look at the online description of the first meet-up group, established by James Kim of California State Christian University, which is sponsoring a FREEDOM WORKSHOP to be held in Fullerton on April 9th and 10th.
Living Free Meetup Group
“Here’s a video intro http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcofZi3JygQ A support group for people committed to encouraging each other to live free from a sense of personal inadequacy, free from anxiety, free from bitterness, free form loneliness and free from addictive sins. We help each other apply principles of freedom found in St Paul’s ‘armor of God’ teaching in the New Testament book of Ephesians. Sponsored by California State Christian University and co-sponsored by your local Meetup.”
You can check out the site by going to MeetUP.com, entering “Los Angeles California” as the city, and “Live free” as the kind of meetup group.
How does it work?
Our goal is to encourage those who attend a FREEDOM WORKSHOP to get together afterward in small groups to “encourage each other to live free.” The frequency of these meetings will be determined by each group, but I suggest that groups meet at least every other week.
I’ll provide resources for the groups to use to guide application of the biblical principles explained in the WORKSHOP. It’s also possible that we’ll have video-tapes of WORKSHOP sessions available so the groups can review, and can orient others who want to join the Living Free MeetUP but couldn’t make it to the workshop. Newcomers will need orientation to the armor God provides so we can “stand against the devil’s schemes.”
MeetUPs and the Local Church
At the moment I expect most of my FREEDOM WORKSHOPS will be sponsored by local churches or groups of churches, for their own members and for outreach into the community. It would be ideal if these congregations would sponsor the MeetUP support groups. However I expect that some groups will have no local church affiliation per se, although members of such groups will be encouraged to connect with a local body of believers.
WORKSHOP first, then MeetUP
Why not just start Living Free MeetUP support groups apart from the FREEDOM WORKSHOP? The basic reason is that most believers simply don’t understand the Armor of God as it’s developed in Ephesians. Even those who have some grasp of the teaching typically haven’t learned how to apply that teaching in their own lives. In the FREEDOM WORKSHOP participants are taught the truths that are the basis of our freedom in Christ, and they experience applying those truths to their own lives. This combination of a common understanding and common experience is essential if people are to support each other in a commitment to continue to live free from Satan’s entanglements.
This is why I view attending the FREEDOM WORKSHOP as an essential foundation for the Living Free support groups. While in some churches that have taken deliverance seriously a base of understanding plus experience may exist, and Living Free groups could be established successfully, in very few churches is deliverance an integral part of the ministry. God willing, a combination of the FREEDOM WORKSHOP and Living Free support groups will help to make up for that missing element.