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Freedom Project
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The Confession Project An AllaboutHim ministry manual by Missionary/Evangelist John Karl Davis
Chapter 1 - The Confession Project God’s Freedom Guarantee! Instructions: Before you seek counsel from any human source, consult the Heavenly source that created you! Put off taking your needs to a pastor or counselor until after you have gone to our loving Heavenly Father first. Let Father God be your first choice. After seeking the Lord, He may choose to lead you to a pastor, a counselor, a friend or some other person to speak life into your heart. Much time is wasted asking men to fix things that only God has authority over. No prescription, practitioner or pastor can destroy fear, heal shame or alleviate and forgive guilt. It feels a bit restrictive, even though it is true, to say, “No one can forgive sin except the Lord.” The good news is that the Lord Jesus can and will forgive sin. He will speak freedom into any person’s heart that asks for His touch in their life. Go to the healer first. Experience the power of His love for you. The elders making confession before the throne of God (Rev 4) This book is designed to encourage every believer to strengthen and build up the practical habit of running to the Lord with the day to day need of cleansing from the effects of sin in our lives. The first appeal for intervention help should be to the Lord. Speaking to friends, ministers, or professional counselors can follow getting counsel from the Lord but going to others should not be our first step. Asking God for intervention is the first step before we approach anyone else. Friends may listen well but their humanness will limit the amount of power they actually have to help you in your time of need. Father listens better than anyone else in existence. He has unlimited power to intervene in your life and unmatched ability to help you. One of Satan’s biggest lies is that God has the power to help you but chooses not to help you. Have you ever had a thought like this? I know God heals. He’s just going to heal everyone but me. I know God answers prayer. He’s just going to answer everyone else’s prayer but mine. He is going to ignore my needs and help everyone else. That type of thinking is from a reservoir of poison words out of Hell. Those words and thoughts are not from the Lord. God is willing to help you. His power will deliver you. Any hopeless vacuum created by the world, the flesh or the devil is a wound that can be healed and filled by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Father invites you through His word to come into His presence with confidence, regardless of your past. Nothing about your past will shock him. He knows everything about your past as well as everything about your future. God knows more about you than you will ever know about yourself. Even though God is all-knowing He still invites you to come into His presence without fear. This kind of unconditional love can be trusted without reservation or fear. Isa 1:18 says “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” RUN TO THE LORD and you will find help. Find out what He says first. Too many words of advice and opinions can bring confusion instead of release. Please understand I am not against doctors and counselors. They are tools God sometimes uses to heal His people. There is a useful place for human counseling as long as we have gone to the Lord first. We must allow Him to be preeminent, to make the first call on what to do with our lives. Father God never makes a mistake. His assessment of what is true is always right on the nail. Ask HIM what’s wrong before you ask anyone else. God never steers us the wrong direction.
Well
meaning friends, family members, pastors and counselors make mistakes but
God never does. Well intentioned opinion formed from human perspective
stands a good chance of being wrong. Self examination is not much better
because our drive of self preservation is usually stronger than our desire
to live by the truth of God’s word. We constantly lie to ourselves to
avoid the embarrassment of having to tell someone else we need help. We
develop a pattern of failure because of repeated unresolved wounds in our
heart. Our failures strengthen the pattern of futility and hopelessness
which is the tool the enemy uses to convince us that no changes are
possible for us. We are in need of a miracle that we do not have the
ability to produce. There is no darker or more dismal blind spot than the
less than subjective perspective we have about the true condition of our
own hearts. I have found over the years that every judgment call I made
without seeking the Lord was always wrong.
I am recommending you seek the opinion of someone who’s never offered a rash judgment or made a mistake. Find out what He thinks. What does He says about the shape your spiritual life is in. God’s perspective will always be correct. An added bonus is that His motive is to help and encourage with the intention to heal hurt, not cause it. Ask Holy Spirit to tell you the truth about you. Make preparation for planting. Cultivate the spiritual soil of your heart through this project. Allow the Lord to plant deep in your soul. His truth will set you free when it finds root in your heart. The Truth of God is our deliverance from those that desire to steal, kill and destroy.
Receive these truths and allow their non-debatable power to get into your spirit.
Chapter 2 – The Confession Project God’s Cleansing Plan This project will teach you how to get “fessed up” and it will empower you to stay free by keeping short sin lists as you will make this project a part of your life each day. Under the topic of confession there are a bucket load of promises in God’s Word that guarantee the development of an intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus if we will live by transparent honesty before the Lord. Staying “fessed up” is the key to having a deep and abiding relationship with Christ Jesus. I have included three versions of the same scripture passage which you are going learn to pray back to the Lord. Compare them for a minute or two. Meditate on them for a couple of minutes and then I’ll tell you what you are going to do with them. If you are listening to cd’s or tapes listen to the verses and then press pause and just let the words sink in from Ps 139:23 – 24. Meditate – Set your thoughts on these verses!
Did you meditate on Ps 139:23 - 24? I call this verse the “Search Me!” verse. What kind of thoughts did you start to have after you had read through the verses a couple of times? What did the Lord say to your spirit? Did you understand what the scripture was saying? I was praying for a specific truth to jump out from the verses and find a home in the deepest part of your heart. I think you probably already grabbed hold of what I am referring to but just in case you didn’t then here it is! If you want to know the truth about yourself, ask God, not someone else about where you stand spiritually. The aim of this book is to attempt to teach you how to use these confessional verses to get free and walk full of the grace of God. There is an old wives tale that says there’s more than one way to skin a cat. I don’t know much about cat skinning but I do know about biblical confession. Confession unto cleansing is a one way street. There is no other way to get to what you need without going to the Source. Biblical confession is not easy but it is simple. Biblical confession is not convenient but it’s less inconvenient than rebellion. Biblical confession costs a great deal but it costs less than living apart from the blessing and protection of God. No person can be what they were created to be without going to the Source which made them. The only way to find out the truth about where you really stand with God is to ASK HIM! The only way to find out the truth about the value of your life is to ask Him! The only way to find victory over shame, and fear is to ask Him! Taste the power of these verses. “Search my heart Lord God. Tell me what you find in me. Tell me what you find so that I will know the truth about me and so I can learn the truth about You.”
Chapter 3 – The Confession Project God’s Truth Serum It is an awesome thing to ask God to tell you the truth about you. It can be a little nerve racking too. A little fear and trepidation is pretty normal at this level of honesty with God. This is not a disingenuous statement. You need not be fearful of anything which God wants to do in your life. God is not the author of fear. His love will cast out all fear that could keep you from Him. The Lord Jesus is the only one that can and should be trusted implicitly. I can give testimony that His love is stronger than any failure of my past or any fear that I have faced. He’s caught me every time I’ve made a leap of faith toward Him. He’s never fumbled the ball. He’s always made the catch. The only condition to the equation is that we must be at a place where we’re willing to be real. Religious games will not work in the presence of the Holy One, the Lord Jesus.
No Holds Barred
It’s
a waste of time to expect to walk in spiritual freedom without an honest
attitude of surrender to the Lord. I’ve met many people whose attitudes
were “Lord, show me your will so I can consider it and if you don’t mind
Lord would you just continue to speak truth into my life and while you are
at it would you put protection over my family while I decide whether or
not to give my whole heart to you.” In other words we want Father to bless
us but we don’t want Him to control us. In the spiritual realm, obeying
God is not something we’re allowed to vote on! Today’s church has a
favorite game. This game is called “commitment based on convenience”. God
will never participate in that kind of game with us.
His equation is simple. He gave everything He had to redeem us. Redeemed people should give everything back out of thankfulness. Partial obedience is 100% rebellion. The fact that so many Christians are comfortable with partial obedience is why we have very little power in the church today. There are millions of believing Christians that live like practicing atheists. Let me tell you this. God will never reward rebellion. He will wait until we get our fill of emptiness. Emptiness is a natural byproduct of living on the world’s side of the tracks for long periods of time. Father knows He must wait for the time to act when we finally get sick and tired of being sick and tired. When we reach the point where we’re willing to trust Him and only Him, a sweet intervention will begin. He meets us at the point of our need as a response to the genuine brokenness in our souls. Are you feeling a little tired and overwhelmed by the life you’ve been trying to live? Sometimes the only way a person can learn is through failure. God will never bail anyone out until they learn how much they really need HIM! He waits patiently on us while we chase the powerless gods of the world. He will allow us to play those religious church games until exhaustion overtakes and overcomes us. It’s pretty draining isn’t it, to try and get fire from a god that’s deaf, dumb, dead and blind. Do you remember the lesson the old false prophets of Baal learned the hard way? They had to learn there’s only one true God of power. Some of us must learn the same lesson. The God of power allows us to try and fail for as long as it takes to break us from thinking we can live on our own strength. We are close to a breakthrough when we learn our lesson well enough to admit we are powerless to help ourselves. God knows we can’t find purpose apart from Him. He knows excluding Him from our lives is less promising than a dog chasing his tail. He knows human life is pointless without an ongoing relationship with God. He knows that most men filled with poison from the fleshy bite of the Lucifer snake must taste how bitter the venom really is before they’ll scream to Him in a desperate cry for deliverance. You do realize that we actually deserve for Him to leave us to die don’t you. The cool thing is instead of leaving us in the far country of rebellion, or in the desert of emptiness and shame our Heavenly Father offers a new start and healing for all that come to Him. The desert of denial is a lonely, intimidating place. Satan’s desert hotel and denial spa is so hot that any time spent in it will breed an insane level of unquenchable thirst. God has the monopoly on the only water that quenches desert thirst. The moment we throw our hands up and say, “I give up” Heaven rejoices. Father says, “It’s about time! I’m so glad to hear your voice. I have been waiting on you for a long time. I am so glad you are ready for me now” “Would you like a drink?” “Yes Lord! Help me Lord! What kind of words do we hear when we cry out to Him? Does He say “ok I’ll help you even though you don’t deserve it”, or “no I won’t help, you had your chance before” or “I told you that you’d eventually come crawling back”? No, all any man hears is “come unto me and I will give you rest.” “Gabriel would you have some ice put in some glasses and a pitcher or two of the Holy Ghost water brought in. My kids are thirsty and they’ve come to Papa for a drink! What grace! Thank you Lord! Motive is important too. God knows what is in your heart. He knows if you are genuinely sorry for what you’ve done and where you have been or whether you’re just sorry you got caught. You see genuine repentance involves genuine brokenness over the effects of sin in our lives. So let’s ask a few diagnostic questions about Motive. ? Motive questions 1. Are you ready to give up democracy for theocracy? In a democracy you have a vote. In a theocracy the only policy maker is the Lord. 2. Are you ready to give up your kingdom to be a part of His? God will oppose the building of any kingdom except His own. Our lives are best used for His glory. Is your ambition to build His kingdom or are you still distracted by other things that might take away from your ability to love God with your whole heart? 3. Are you ready to be filled by being emptied? Sometimes God calls us to be an Abraham. He calls us to lay down things that are precious to us. Sometimes God calls us to be an Isaac. His call involves laying down ourselves. We must be emptied of fleshy things before we can be filled with Godly things. 4. Are you ready to serve a king and embrace being a servant? Serving Jesus is essentially making other people successful. You will be a ruler in eternity, but for now you are called to serve others. The process of cleansing and filling means losing your vote. Losing your vote means you do not get to determine what you are going to do with your life. A big part of getting free is deciding to exchange your control for His control. Frank Peretti says in his books that Father God is the High Holy Honcho of Heaven. I love that term for Father because it mirrors what walking filled with the Spirit is all about. Walking “fessed up” means making Him the High Holy Honcho of your Heart day by day.
I
heard a story of a grandfather and his grandson. The boy came in from
playing and told the old man, “Grandpa there are two dogs, one black and
one white, outside in the street and they are fighting.” The old man asked
the little boy, “Which dog is going to win the fight? The boy answered, “I
don’t know Grandpa.” The old man said, “The dog that wins the fight will
be the dog that has been fed the most!”
Chapter 4 - The Confession Project God’s New Nature tune-up! Christian believers have two natures. Unbelievers have only one nature. The nature of the unbeliever defies God’s authority. This defiant nature is our “before Jesus” nature. The scripture says our “before Jesus” nature made us an enemy of God. Psalms 58:3 says “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Romans 3:23 declares that all people have sinned. Therefore the statements in Ps 58 about the estrangement of the wicked means all people that have ever lived have been separated or enemies of God since the day they were born. Eph 2:1 is a “before and after” verse. Eph 2:1 says, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” “Quickened” means to be “made alive”. The apostle is writing to those who have been quickened or made alive. If you have not been quickened then you are still dead. He is writing to those that were formerly dead in trespass and sin. He is telling the quickened Ephesian believers to rejoice because they are no longer under the curse of death and the power of sin in the same way they were before they were saved. He is not saying the battle with sin is over. He is actually saying the battle has just begun. The battle with sin actually begins the moment Holy Spirit speaks life into our hearts and we become aware of how “dead” we have actually been. The moment we’re saved is actually when the two dogs “Old Nature” and “New Nature” begin to fight. This project is designed to teach you how to feed the new nature Jesus gave you when he birthed you spiritually into His family. Every genuinely born again person has a new nature. The absence of a new nature is a declaration that you haven’t been genuinely born again. Having a new nature does not make you perfect or sinless. A new nature does give you the desire to sin less and a new nature does enhance your ability to trust God more! FYI, your new nature does change you in some very specific ways. Your new nature produces a developing sense of hatred for sin that you loved as a lost person. Your new nature will increase your passion for people. Your new nature will produce an aversion to the things of the world that ignore and dishonor your Savior. Genuine salvation will birth an entirely new conscience in you about things that probably never bothered you when you were lost. Why do these things happen? Here are a couple of reasons. Since we became believers “it’s not I but Christ living in me now”. I lost my claim of ownership when I received Christ. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Notice some things about Gal 2:20 (1) Jesus actually did the dying so we could live. (2) The life we’re enjoying in the flesh is a life of faith, and just in case we don’t have enough faith God places the faith of Jesus inside us. Jesus starts the process of cleansing and filling us. We could not save ourselves so, He saved us. In essence He did the dying so we could do the living. We couldn’t clean ourselves up so He does the cleansing for us. We can’t fill ourselves with the power we need to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil so He fills us with the power of the Holy Spirit and even gives us spiritual gifts or tools to do the work He calls us to do. Let me say it a different way. God has loved us for forever. He planned on saving us before He ever made the world. He planned on cleansing us before sin entered into the world. He wants us to have a forever life with Him. He wants to bless us. He wants to prosper us. He wants to heal us. He wants to live in us. He is willing to walk with us as our Heavenly Dad. He knows His power is our only deliverance from sin. He has always PLANNED on dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. This is why He promises to finish what He started in Phil 1:6 The Message paraphrase says
–
“There
has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started
this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing
finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”
Before we can go any further I need to ask you, “Are you sure you are really saved?” I don’t’ want to put a Band-Aid on a tumor. Jesus can’t finish something we have not allowed Him to start. If you have struggled with assurance then turn to page 22! If you have ANY doubt as to whether you have been changed by the Spirit of God. Please stop reading for a moment and turn to page 43. Find the same “do you know that you know that you know” graphic which you see here. Go through the description for biblical salvation and make sure you are saved. Many unsaved people are religious and love the church. Many unsaved people love the idea of Jesus and believe He exists but have never surrendered their lives to Him. You can’t “rededicate” something that’s never been dedicated. Religious activity is no substitute for spiritual life.
How to be saved Gods way!
Before
we go any further, check on something. Are you sure without a doubt that
you are one of God’s kids? The only reason I ask is because Jesus warns
us in Matt 7 that huge numbers of people are in for a surprise when they
stand in front of Him in eternity.
Matt 7:21-23 "Knowing the correct words — saying 'Master, Master,' for instance — isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience — doing what my Father wills. 22 I can see it now — at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' 23 And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.' This passage means that some that preach, cast out demons and do miracles are not really saved. Some men substitute religious belief (head knowledge) about Christ for life commitment (heart knowledge) to Christ. I don’t want to talk to you about family things unless you are sure you are part of the family. Ask yourself this question honestly. Have you ever surrendered the control of your heart to Jesus? Can you go back to a time where by faith you prayed and asked the Lord Jesus to come into your heart, forgive your sin and save your soul and then after you prayed was there a change in your life Dear one, if there’s never been a spiritual change in your heart then spiritual life has probably never been placed in your heart. If all you are doing is hoping can I tell you there is MORE! I want you to know that when I was married to my wife nearly 35 years ago my new relationship with her CHANGED my life. If a relationship with another human being can make such a drastic change then isn’t it logical to say that when Holy God comes into a human life there will always be a change. Good works don’t save us. Baptism doesn’t save us. Believing Jesus exists doesn’t save us. Saying a prayer is not what saves us. The presence of God’s Holy Spirit coming into our lives is what saves us. Salvation comes when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and not until. When Holy Spirit comes in to our hearts one of the evidences that a change has taken place is something called “bearing witness with our spirit that we are the sons and daughters of God.” Don’t take my word for this. Listen to Rom 8:15-17 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
Now the King James has language that is a little difficult to grasp sometimes so here is a version that sounds a little bit more like how we talk. This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" 16 God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. 17 And we know we are going to get what's coming to us — an unbelievable inheritance! God wants you to know that you belong to Him now so He speaks to us from inside our souls to let us know He is dwelling in us now. God the Holy Spirit himself confirms in our lives that we are his kids now. He wants you to know when He came into your life. He wants to settle the issue with you about where you’ll spend eternity so you never have to worry. He wants you to be able to concentrate on living life without having to be concerned about dying. God loves you so much. He is not angry with you. He has already poured His wrath out on Jesus at the Cross of Calvary so that He could offer forgiveness and a new start to you right now. Work through God’s simple plan of salvation on pages 53 – 56 and you can be forgiven, guaranteed a home in heaven later, and start right now living a life filled with fellowship with the Lord the rest of your days. Many people are praying over you right now.
Here’s a Summary of the Bible's Message on Salvation!
Step 1 Jesus said ...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10b) "... we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
Step 2 ... your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)
On our own, there's no way we can attain the perfection which is needed to bridge the gap between us and God. Through the ages, individuals have tried many ways ... without success.
Good works won't do it ... or religion ... or money ... or morality ... or philosophy... "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)
Step 3 Jesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. He died on the cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin. His death bridged the gap between God and all mankind. The death and resurrection of Jesus restored man to God in a perfect relationship.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Step 4 Man must accept this gift in order to have eternal life with God. This simply involves asking God for His gift and believing that He will do it based on what the Bible says: · I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
Is there any reason why you shouldn't cross over to God's side and be certain of eternal life? Can you think of any “good” reason to miss spending eternity with Jesus? What does it mean to call on the Lord? Many today tell us that just saying the words of a prayer . . . are what the book of Romans means when it says “Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved.” I can’t say this strongly enough. Anyone teaching this is wrong. Salvation is not about the prayer. Salvation is about the one you are praying to. Salvation is not about how much faith you have but in whom you place what faith you do have. There is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved. No one has ever gone into the grave and come out. The only one with power over death is Jesus. The only one with the power to forgive sin is Jesus. This is why the bible says call on the Name of Jesus and you will be saved. Calling on Jesus is like signing a contract. In exchange for the forgiveness of my sin I transfer the ownership of my life. Calling on Jesus is more than deliverance from the fire or eternal fire insurance. Calling on Jesus is surrendering your life to His control. If all you have done is pray a prayer of words that did not include the transferring of the ownership of your life to Him, you have not been saved. Yet! You can get it right today. God is willing to save you if you are willing to admit your need for real salvation and that you’ll receive it on His terms! If you have never experienced what I am talking about please stop right now and ask Jesus to come into your heart and change you and save you. Here’s how. How to receive Christ: 1. Admit your need (I am a sinner). 2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent). 3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the grave. 4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit (Receive Him as Lord and Savior of your life). You are transferring the ownership of your heart to Him.
What to pray: Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite you to come into my heart and life. As much as I know how I trust you with my entire life. I choose to follow You as the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for saving me just now. I will gladly tell others that today I have given my life to you and no longer belong to myself. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for defeating death and the devil for me. Thank you for rescuing me today from the penalty of my sin. I bless your name Lord Jesus. Thank you for giving me new life today! In the name of Jesus Amen.
God's assurance of eternal life If you've prayed this prayer and trusting Christ, then the Bible says that you can be sure you have eternal life.
Receiving Christ, we are born into God's family through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer ... this is called regeneration or the "new birth."
Wow! What joy for me to just write about “How to meet the Lord”! Would you email me at missions@allabouthim.org if you asked Jesus into your heart? We want to rejoice with you for making the most important decision of your life. It will make our day to hear that you have done what God says makes His day too! Now that you have trusted Jesus go back to the Go Time! button on page 11 and finish the Confession Project!
Chapter 5 - The Confession Project Gentlemen start your engines! If you know for sure you are saved, born again, filled with the life of Jesus through the Holy Spirit then please get ready because it’s Go Time! It’s a good thing in your Christian walk to learn as early as you can how to get freedom from the wounds and hurts that originate from your past. There is no better time than right now to get healed up. Freeing us from bondage is what Jesus does. The freedom Jesus offers to His children is more than living with Him later. Trusting Him now is more than a “pie in the sky in the sweet bye and bye” solution. He wants to give us a taste of Heaven now. He wants us to know that eternal life with Him begins today! We preachers are pretty talented at telling people what they need to do. I’m afraid we’re a bit less talented at giving steps to accomplish such lofty goals such as walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and experientially living the victorious life the New Testament talks about over and over again.
Jer 29:11-14 I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out — plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 12 "When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. 13 "When you come looking for me, you'll find me." Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, 14 I'll make sure you won't be disappointed in me." You may not know this. Our Heavenly Father is a good dad. He will do anything necessary to help get you to a place where the two of you can fellowship together. He wants the very best for you. The Lord says we are to run to Him no matter what life or the devil tries to throw at us. In the picture on page 18 the little boy is sitting beside his father getting help with his homework. In a sense, the boy is resting in his dad’s lap. That‘s a picture of what the Lord asks his kids to do too. Crawl up into His lap and let your spiritual Dad bless you. In Ps 42:1 David prayed “As the deer pants after the water brook O Lord, so let my soul pant after thee. Deer run to the water for two reasons. They run to the water when they are thirsty and they run to the water when they are trying to hide from an enemy. Are you are pursued by the enemy? Run to the Lord! Is your soul is dry and thirsty? Run to the Lord!
The picture of the dad with his son is a great visual for what God wants you to do in a spiritual sense with Him. Crawl up in his lap. Just say, “Help me!” Crawl up next to Father and say “In Jesus name, cleanse me!” It makes God glad when we come to Him with our needs. It’s a good thing when we allow the Lord to love on us like he’s always wanted to do the since the day we were born. Jump to Him. It will be FINE! He caught me when I finally jumped to Him. He will catch you too. He will not let you fall. Let go and jump to Him in faith. Do it! Do it! Do it! Ready? Set! Go!
Chapter 6 - The Confession Project God’s Step by Step by Step to Freedom
Let’s review a few things. This section gives more detailed information about how God speaks to you when you pray a “search my heart” prayer. Try to follow the plan as closely as possible. I don’t want you to miss out on the freedom miracle which is waiting for you as a gift from the Lord Jesus. I’ve tasted Father’s freedom and probably one of the reasons I have written this book is because I am a satisfied customer. It won’t be long before you’ll begin to experience this freedom too. As healing comes you’ll probably begin to get as excited as I am about the grace of God! Step One Pray or personalize Psalms 139:23 – 24 to the Lord! Here are two translations of the same verse that I combined to use as a guide. Use these words as your prayer to God. Speak them to Him as much from your heart as you can.
Investigate my life, O God and find out everything about me. Cross-examine and test me, and get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong then guide me on the road to eternal life. “Search ME dear Lord and then because I have a tendency to lie to myself, please tell me what YOU find so I can know the truth about where I am in my quest for victorious living day by day!” Ps 139:23 – 24 * Personalize means to pray the verse back to the Lord, using His words as your words. 1. Pray this first. Father I believe in Jesus name that you will answer my prayer. I know you want to set me free from every area of bondage in my life. I give you permission to do whatever is necessary to heal my heart. 2. Now, pray the Ps 139 verse. Sit back and open your mind up to meditate on what you just prayed. . 3. What thoughts are in your head right this minute? Holy Spirit is speaking to you right now by bringing these memories to your attention.
Chapter 7 - The Confession Project Step Two - Make a Sin and Weight list! God is speaking right now. You will hear His voice through your thoughts as soon as you are ready to listen. What things should I write down? I am glad you asked. The Holy Spirit will whisper to you about two types of things. · First, He will speak to you about sin. Some sins are from the past. Some sins are active problems right now. Unconfessed sin from the past shuts down our present tense communication with Holy Spirit. These strongholds hinder our fellowship with Father. · Secondly, He will speak to you about weights. Weights are non sinful areas that have become stumbling blocks in your spiritual walk. · Expanded material defining a weight is in chapter 10 on page 33.
Don’t put this off! Get to it! (1) Get a pad of paper (2) Start by numbering 1 – 10, but don’t be surprised if you need more numbers later. (3) Make a list of any thoughts that involve memories of these types of things – bitterness, fear, hatred, moral impurity, greed, sins, or weights. If you start having a thought about something that seems harmless or even godly go ahead and write it down and then judge it after you have read the material on weights. Most people are surprised by the “good” things that have actually become harmful in their walk with the Lord. When you reach a point where you can’t think of anything else to write down move on to the next discussion.
Freedom Principle! Let God define what is sin, not your friends or family or the world.
Galatians 5 is a passage showing part of God’s sin list. Let’s read Gal 5:19 and get a taste of what God’s definition of sin might be.
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.
Due to 2000 years of cultural changes this sin list is not exhaustive. Regardless of what kind of moral and ethical path society has taken Galatians 5 is a good place to start when you are trying to determine whether or not something is sin. I will say this also. If we have to ask if something is sin the Holy Spirit has probably already waved a red flag around in our hearts. Questionable things don’t usually turn out to be holy. For “on the line” or “gray area” things I would suggest that you ask three questions about whatever you are unsure about. · Is it pure? · Is it right or factual? · Is it holy?
Notice that God’s Galatians 5 definitions of sin are pretty black and white compared to the gray opinions of the world. Someone must define what the boundaries are. The 100, 000 dollar question is who is qualified to draw the lines of demarcation. When men try to define sin boundaries you’ll notice the list of sins changes from denomination to denomination, from culture to culture and even from family to family. I am sure you have already come to this correct conclusion. The only one qualified to define sin is the Lord God himself. God is the only one righteous enough to determine where the moral fence lines should run and which ones are necessary to live life to the full. Get in agreement with Him and you’ll be at peace with yourself. Get in agreement and you’ll be at peace with Him. God does not make rules to restrict us. God’s rules are to protect us from the enemies that would like to steal our joy, kill our hope, and destroy our relationship with Father.
God’s words bring life! Make a note of this. No other person’s opinion matters any longer once God has made His opinion public. I used to see a bumper sticker that said “God said it and I believe it. That makes it true!” The bumper sticker sounds really good but truthfully it makes a false statement. If God said it, whether I believe it or not, God’s word is always true. His words are true whether we agree with them or not. I can say the words which declare God doesn’t love me. Just speaking the words does not mean they are true because no matter what I say or believe the Lord Jesus does love me. How do I know? His word says so. We can say there’s no hope. But there is hope in the name of Jesus. People can accuse you of being a worthless failure. In the perspective of the world you may be. God looks at our existence and place in this life differently. He is the God of the 2nd chance. Nothing is too hard for Him and that includes cleaning you up to where you can enjoy spending time with Him both now and in eternity. Words that wound and bring shame are curses from the demons of Hell. Word curses are planted in human minds by the accuser of the brethren. His words kill joy, wound hearts, and destroy hope. God’s words bring life and healing. In their eyes you may be a failure. But hear this! You are not a failure lost cause in God’s eyes. God’s word says we are precious to Him even though we have all sinned. God says he loves us and that there’s hope in Jesus. God’s word says that life is precious and that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. The only words that carry any weight are His! His words about himself over-rule any words I speak about Him. His words about me over-rule the words I speak about myself. His words about us even over-rule the words other people speak about us. Do you know why? He’s the eternal One. He’s the one we’ll stand before in eternity. We won’t stand in front of our friends, or our family. We will stand in front of Him, the Lord Jesus. No ones else’s opinion matters concerning the definitions of sin. As you pray, make sure to write specifically any thoughts about events or attitudes that fit this Gal 5 list.
Chapter 8 – The Confession Project
Step Three - Do the Work! Picture the layers of an onion. Confession is God’s way of peeling away hurtful stuff one layer at a time. Write until nothing else comes to mind. Put down all the gory details if there are any, because this is all between you and the one that already knows. You should not show your list to anyone else. When the Holy Spirit is finished talking to you and is ready to end the session, you’ll run out of things to write. He will deal with more in your next session when you have recovered your strength. He won’t dump the whole load on you at once.
List making 101 for onions and others! The basic principle for making a freedom list is the Holy Spirit decides when enough is enough. He decides whether all the layers are exposed that He wants to deal with at that particular time. Once you have started running this race, make a vow in your soul to finish the course. There’s an old hymn that says, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.” I’m telling you that we don’t have to wait until we can see Jesus physically to experience His power and to get full of His grace. Tears and sweat are a price that is worth paying. God’s will is for all of us to get healed up and filled up during this life. We don’t have to wait until later. That is what makes “later with God” so mind boggling. This is what makes the promise of heaven so sweet to me. If this life can be so incredibly awesome then “my, my, my” how wonderful is the home He is working on for us in eternity going to be!
Be honest and write it all down! – The Lord is a counselor you can trust! Here are important components to help you to correctly make your sin list.
1. Privacy is guaranteed - This list is for your eyes only. No one is going to make you show anything you write to anyone else, unless you want to. 2. Transparency is expected – Be Honest! God already knows everything so nothing you write down will shock Him. 3. Trusting Faith is a key to success - He loves you unconditionally and will not hurt you. 4. Focus on the prize at the end, not the pain on the path - Confession is for your benefit, not his. Prayer does not change God. Prayer changes us. 5. Finish what you start! - After you reach a point where there is nothing left to put on your list that is a sign the Lord is finished with you for the time being. There will be other layers He will deal with later. I am sure this has been painful up to now. The good news is that the whole process is about to become a time of joy, and a time of hope as the Lord begins to heal the areas represented by what you have written on your “sin list”. 6. Worship is how we show gratitude - Be sure to spend time thanking the Lord for every breakthrough you experience. Some healing is quick. Other types of healing may involve a process that lasts for days, or months or years. You didn’t get the way you are overnight. Be patient and diligent to continue seeking the cleansing of God on a daily basis. I speak healing and restoration in the Name of Jesus on all that read this text. May you get free and stay free and walk in the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit the rest of your life.
Chapter 9 – The Confession Project
Step Four – It’s time to stop confessing and start getting some cleansing. This next chapter is where we are going to get to lay aside a bunch of that baggage you’ve been carrying for years. Come on! It’s going to be great. With your sin list in hand, pray 1 John 1:9 to the Lord. Here is the text – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Here is an expanded version of 1 John 1:9 to help you know what you are praying.
If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. AMP
Do what the verse says and God promises today will be a day of healing for you. Here’s a personalized version of 1 John 1:9 for you to pray back to the Lord right now!
“Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Lord you’re the only hope I have to get free. Lord Jesus I’m confessing my sin to you and I’m counting on you to be faithful and just to forgive my sin, and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness just like you said you would. Lord I’m doing exactly what you tell me to do in 1 John 1:9 and I am expecting by faith that you’ll do what you say in response to my doing what you told me to do. Thank you in advance Lord for cleansing my heart from the sin and the unrighteousness of my past. Amen!”
1. Remember God can not lie. If He says He will do something, then He will do whatever He promises. He loves you as much as anyone alive. He is for you, not against you. 2. |