I am not my Past

 I am not my Past

Collin Leong. 24/8/2018

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:13-14)

1) Introduction

    a) God’s salvation plan has three different stages:

        i) Justification by the blood of Christ – “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1)

       ii) Sanctification by the renewing of the Spirit – ”.. God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thes 2:13)

      iii) Glorification by the redemption of the body – “… if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us… the redemption of our bodies.” (Rom 8:17-18;23)

   b) In this topic we want to talk about sanctification. Sanctification is to make us “more like Christ” so that we can be useful for God’s work while one Earth:

         "A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work."(2 Tim 2:20-21)

   c) However, each person’s Sanctification journey is unique, partly because each bring a different “baggage” into the Kingdom. These baggages are our past experiences, which can be viewed as "positive" or  "negative" experiences from a human perspective.  

These experiences are often a barrier or a hurdle towards being Christ-like especially when one hangs on to them or rely on them. 

   d) That’s why 2 Tim 2:22 continues: “Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 

2) How our Past continues to affect us

     a) Some categories of "negative" experiences:

         i) Trauma - child abuse, abandonment, death or loss of a loved one, disablement, victim of horrible crimes, domestic abuse, near death experience, witnessing something horrific, etc.  Inability to bring to closure keeps us a  permanent victim of these  incidents. 

         ii) Trust Violation - some violates or abused your trust. When we are hurt, we tend to close ourselves off and put up our walls so that we will not be hurt again. However closed wounds also prevents true healing, reconciliation and limits our potential to move forward. 

         iii) Failures And Regrets - Everyone has failures. But the damage is far worse if someone close to you or whom you respected made you feel/think you are failure or useless. This can feed depression and low self-esteem. Letting past mistakes or criticisms haunt you will keep you from trying new experiences, new relationships or enjoy success.

         iv) Anger & Bitterness - Anger from being treated unfairly or being bullied creates walls and boundaries that can be impossible to overcome, because we’re more focused on how we feel than actually looking for a solution.  Furthermore, being angry or bitter at someone punishes yourself more than the other person.

    b) In eternal perspective, experiences cannot be concluded to be “positive” or “negative" until God is given the chance to transform them into something that brings blessings into our lives and the lives of people around us. God is the master in exchanging “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning”  (Isa  61:3). 

 c) In fact as a Christian, we have already been

given the power to change our past. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!"   (1 Cor 5:17).  

       However, psychologists advised that if we want the past to lose its effects on us, we must not keep focusing at them and let them occupy our minds.  The past is like a rear view mirror – if we  keep staring at it, there will soon be an accident. Our eyes should be looking to the front, where we should be going.  

  “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of ur faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…”  (Heb 12:2)

   d) Psychologists also say that the greatest challenge is for the affected person to replace the negative past with something positive. Without a real and positive replacement, the negative past will keep affecting you, even if you don't even remember the past experiences.

   e) Some people distract themselves with worldly things such as religious meditation, yoga, help the poor, save the earth movement, and so on. Some of these may work for this side of eternity. However, others put their security on another spouse, pleasures and even destructive cults. These can end up creating experiences that are worse than what you are running away from.

      “Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and hatred. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice.” (Rom 1: 28-29)

    f) The replacement need not only be positive, but also true in order to be lasting. For the Christian, we have a natural renewal system given to us. It’s called the Word, and the Spirit. 

        The Word  tells us the common truth about us, and the Spirit continuously reminds us the unique truth about me, but also gives us power outside of ourselves. The divine power helps us to repent and  change the way we think about our past and about ourselves  (metanoéō -  "change of mind"  or “to think differently afterwards")

       “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the  truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

       “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5)

3) What has the Devil Got To Do With This?

When God wins a person over to Salvation, Satan does not give up. He is known as the “accuser of the brethren” who “accuses them day and night before our God.” (Rev 12:10).  He loves to remind believers that because of the “bad” past, they are unworthy or inadequate, and that God can neither forgive them nor use them. 

    a) Satan’s Strategy

       One way Satan binds Christians and limit their potential is through deception from past  experiences. This is called “self-limiting beliefs”. 

       We see this in Moses, who believed his life was in danger, and felt inadequate to be God’s spokesman due to his terrible past experience in Egypt. 

Gideon hesitated to lead God’s army since he felt he was the least of his family, which was the least in the clan. 

Paul, who so far had the best education and promising career, could not believe Jesus was the Messiah he had been studying about in the Torah.

      Today, there are so many terrible experiences including child abuse (physical/ sexual), bullying, hurtful insults, broken families, bad parenting, betrayal, and so on. These creates in the mind of the victims deception such as “I am unloved”, “I am ugly”, “I am useless”, “No one likes me”,  "Men cannot be trusted”, and so on.  

      These type of mindsets generate specific psychological response such as shyness, withdrawals, anti- social behaviours, lack of confidence, anger, bitterness, and so on.  

      In our CG group, we may not have severe "negative" experiences but many of the men are, should I say "trapped", in an over-achieving mindset. Many relate it to demanding fathers (typical in Chinese culture). We half-jokingly call this phenomena "the father issue!" We believe success is important for self-esteem even if we intellectually know God does not need us to be super-achievers to love and to bless us.

    

      Satan uses such mindsets and emotions as a "foothold" on us. One of God’s sanctification purpose is to free us from these footholds, so that our feet is free to follow His perfect will for us. The cleansing is powerful because it changes the entire outlook of the person and even the life style of the person.

     We have heard numerous testimonies of Christians stopping their violent attitudes, drug addictions, forgive their offenders (some from murder of a family member), gave up promising careers to go full-time, and so on.  These people know that their past do not define their lives in Christ; the past do not stop the right things and the right path God wants us to continue on.

     The bible says “Do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph 4:27). Unfortunately, some of these footholds were already there before we came to know Christ. So how do these footholds and  strongholds become a snare in our Christian lives?

b) Principles of Footholds, Strongholds, and Strangleholds

     i) Footholds

        “So I tell you this, and testify to it in the Lord: You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility (vanity) of their thinking.”  (Eph 4:17)

         (Case: David became proud of his great military success and became bored. He gave in to lust  and seduced Bathsheba.)

        Interestingly, footholds are related to anger: “Be angry, yet do not sin. Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph 4:26,27). If you study psychology, you probably have heard of the Kubler-Ross model developed in 1960s to explain the grieving process.

        When someone undergoes trauma, or is a victim and becomes hurt, anger is a common reaction at some point in the emotional process. Before anger comes the denial and the blaming of someone else for the issues. Of course, many times others are indeed at fault. However, how we respond to the fault of others need to be put under the control of the Holy Spirit. Rom 12:14 says to "bless those who persecute you."

        When the anger is not resolved quickly, the person becomes bitter and the devil gets a foothold in the person’s life. It is important not to allow anger to persist after sundown as most of the self-deception occurs in bed  as we lay awake, wallowing about how life is unfair, about getting even, churning on our own guilt, and so on. 

Instead, we should resolve them with the offender or at least pour them out to God before going to bed and leave it in his hands; Otherwise, these self-limiting beliefs turns into depression and changes your outlook if left unresolved.

   ii) Stronghold

       

“They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.”  (Eph 4:18)

        The Kubler-Ross model also shows that anger will eventually fade into “acceptance." This doesn’t necessarily mean good news. It just means the person has accepted the new conditioning or environment – that is, the deception is now part of the person’s mind-set and behavior. This is when the Foothold becomes a Stronghold.

        (Case: David’s guilt drove him to manipulate his sin and eventually end up with murder.)

        A stronghold simply means that the deception has a “hold”  so “strong” that the person rather  commit more sins to cover them up. In David’s case, it’s his guilt and pride.  Very often, guilt, depression and regret still exists at this stage but is invisible to others; however, it will be difficult for the person to reverse the deception.

        Examples of deception,  outlook in life, and what the Bible says.

  iii) Stranglehold

       “Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of  every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.” (Eph 4:19)

        Satan’s ultimate goal is to totally disable the Christian whom he has a stronghold on. His aim is  to “steal and destroy” your life and testimony. This stage is called Stranglehold.  The person conscience is so seared so that he can no longer distinguish right or wrong in his life.  

       (eg: David could correctly condemning the man who stole the sheep but were not ashamed to openly make Bathsheba his wife .)

       In Kubler-Ross model, this is equivalent to “integration” – essentially the person has made this self-deception and self-limiting belief part of their lives.  It’s no longer seen as wrong, but normal. Guilt, depression and regret have long faded away. All the discomfort is pushed into the subliminal core and shielded with a hardened wall. This is their new life now.

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose  consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” (1 Tim 4:1-2)

But praise to God, even at this stage, He can still “save” the Christian and bring him out of the deception and bondage, just as how David repented and returned to God.

4) Self-Evaluation

    a) In this section we want to reflect whether there are any footholds or strongholds from our past. 

       The first step is to ask the Spirit to reveal past experiences that may have shaped your emotional and mental limitations.   Next, examine the “deception” you may have believed due to these  experiences.

       If able, sketch down the scriptural truths that are contrary to these deceptions. You do not need to know the book or chapters/verses, only the gist of the Word. 

       Your examples can be a foothold/stronghold that you are still struggling with, or one which God  had already set you free.

      Describe the past experience. (What/ When/How/Who/Why) What “deception” have you  believed from the experience that contradicts what God says about you? How has the deception prevented you from obeying God or giving Him your full potential?

    b) Public Sharing:  Share one of your entries. If it’s one that God has already freed you from, share with others how He did it. If it’s one that you are still struggling with, ask the group for prayer.

5) How to Remove Footholds

     God desires to remove the footholds and the strongholds, and that He has the power to do it. But he need you to give Him the permission to enter those areas.

Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:20)

Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death….Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.  (Heb 2: 14,15, 18)

     Here are the six steps we can take to reveal and remove footholds:

    a) Recognise

        “He who conceals his sins does not prosper; but whoever confesses and renounces them finds  mercy.” Prov 28:3

        Nothing can happen until we recognize there is a problem. Some experiences are so horrible  that we rather forget them. Some experiences happened when we are very young and are already in our subconscious. But like unseen rusts in our engines, their effects linger on and limits our potential. Pray that the Spirit will reveal them to you. 

        There is also a need to recognize the deception that you have developed from the experience. It could be insecurity, inability to love yourself, inability to love others, shyness, inability to take  risks, inability to give, and so on.  Find verses in the Bible that is contrary to what you think, or pray and ask the Spirit what God thinks of you in this aspect.  See yourself as God sees you.

    b) Repent

         “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)

         Sometimes we do not want to repent, because we don’t want to let go of the hurt feelings; we don’t want to let go of being the victim; we don’t want to let go of the hope of getting even. To be willing to put your past behind you, you must be willing to let those things go and allow  God to work something new in you.

         Removing footholds is about changing our minds about them; in other words, to repent. Repenting does not only apply to sins, but also to the wrong attitudes we take towards negative  experiences, and the self-deception we take upon ourselves that are contrary to God’s Word. 

    c) Renounce

        “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

The devil cannot possess you, but he can oppress you. The bible says our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against “rulers, authorities, powers of darkness, spiritual forces of evil…”. (Eph 6:12).  

This is why removing footholds and strongholds together with the deception in our  minds cannot be done on our own effort.

        After putting on the full armour of God, for warfare, Ephesians 6 says “Pray in the Spirit at all  times, with every kind of prayer and petition”.  In the name of Jesus, by the blood of the lamb, we are given the authority to resist, rebuke and renounce Satan and his demonic followers.   (Rev 12:11)

        We sometimes don’t do this simply because we cannot see them in our realm. However, do note that repentance is needed BEFORE renouncing has any effect.

    d) Receive

        “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us.”  (Ps 103:12)

        Psychologists say that the greatest challenge in removing self-limiting belief is to change one’s perspective. As a Christian, we must have the faith to accept the full forgiveness of our mistakes  and sins and self-deception through the work of Christ on the cross.  Furthermore, we must  realise that God accepts all our skills and achievements as they are, and we need not do more to please him. 

        A good illustration is the vision that Zechariah has about the high priest Joshua.  He saw Joshua wearing filthy clothes, and Satan was there accusing Joshua of his sins. But the Lord rebuked  Satan, and the “Angel of the Lord” (the pre-incarnate Christ), removed the filthy clothes from Joshua and gave him a clean, while priestly garment. 

        “So the Angel of the LORD said to those standing before Him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then He said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.” (Zec 3:4)

         Joshua did not do anything to improve himself. He merely accepts the authority of Christ over  Satan, receives the clean garments and a new perspective of himself, not as a hopeless sinner but a forgiven and accepted one.

    e) Respond

        “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  (Eph 4:30-32)

       The same chapter of Ephesians that says not to give the devil a foothold ends by asking believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Putting it the other way, we are to make the Holy Spirit our “stronghold” and instead grieve the Devil!

       "The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not abandoned those who seek You." (Psalms 9:9-10)

        In other words, there has to be a continuing obedience to the Spirit going forward. There has to be follow-ups to tie up the loose strings and to close the loop.

        

        In particular, the character of the person has to change from bitterness to kindness, from anger  to compassionate, from malice to forgiveness, from self-achievements to servanthood.

        

Confronting and asking the offender for forgiveness is the peak and final form of leaving the  past behind. We may not be at fault for the incident, but we are at fault for the wrong response. It requires humility and imitates the love of God, “just as in Christ God forgave you.”

        

        Joseph gained a new perspective about his sufferings, and became willing to forgive his brothers:

        “Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? “As for you,  you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  (Gen 50:18-20)

        No experiences are negative once left in God's hands!

    f) Rejoice and Relay

        “Go home to your own people, He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.” (Mark 5:19)

          Jesus said the above to the man whom he had released from demon possession. There’s no greater devil’s stranglehold than that! Jesus asked him to go and tell others. I believe there is psychological benefit to this – that is, you are no longer afraid nor ashamed to tell others publicly about what you have gone through. This gives you the freedom and confidence that it  is really over.

           Furthermore, this turns a negative experience into a lesson that many can learn from. God has indeed turned ashes into beauty! 

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28)