If you knowingly expose yourself to corrupting and contaminating influence,
then you willingly open the door to the devil
and will easily fall into his trap.
Grace and peace to you all in Jesus' mighty name
and welcome to another edition of 'Faith Is Natural' here on God's Heart TV.
Now, today I want to talk about a question I have been asked many times,
which is simply this - how do I break free from my bad habits?
For example, so many people - most especially young men and women -
have reached out and said:
'Brother Chris, I need help! I am addicted to pornography and masturbation
and I want to stop! I need deliverance! Please pray for me.'
And I agree with you that deliverance in the name of Jesus Christ
is very important; it's essential.
When I say 'deliverance', I mean the Divine power of God
breaking every stronghold of demonic influence surrounding your will.
Yes - it is vital!
But I have observed that many people who reach out for deliverance today
are not really ready for it
and in the same vein, many who have received prayer for deliverance
still find themselves slipping back into the same trap of temptation
in relation to that bad habit.
So, this is what I am going to talk about today, people of God.
You see, it's common for us to direct full blame to the devil
rather than recognising and acknowledging
our responsibility in the role we have played,
we often play in his infiltration into our hearts.
You see, the devil's intention is very clear; it's very known.
It's not something that's hidden.
His aim is to steal, to kill and to destroy.
It's written there in the Bible in John 10:10.
And his aim is to break our relationship with God,
to separate us from God.
How? Through sin.
Sin is the food of satan.
It's the weapon of satan.
Satan rules through sin.
He moves, walks and eats through sin.
He operates through sin.
And make no mistake, people of God -
he will use every trick and tactic to try and lure you into sin.
Remember what the Bible says in Genesis 4:7.
It says: "Sin is crouching at your door.
It desires to have you. You must rule over it."
That's why as Christians, our actual enemy is sin.
We need to run from sin.
At this point, people of God, I want you to turn with me in your Bibles
to the proof text today taken from the book of 2 Timothy 2.
I'm going to read from verse 19. It says this:
"Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal:
'The Lord knows those who are His'
and 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity'."
Take it a few verses down to verse 22. It says:
"Flee also youthful lusts but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace
with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
A pure heart is a heart that hates sin.
Now, that's our journey of faith, as believers.
It's a journey of dying to sin and living to righteousness -
dying to sin more and more and living to righteousness more and more.
Not that we are perfect.
No one in this world is perfect and you know that.
You know yourself.
You know your weaknesses - those internal conflicts in your heart.
You know the areas in which you easily succumb to satan's suggestions.
You know the buttons that satan can push
to try and lure you down the unrighteous road.
You know the traps that he commonly sets for you.
No one knows you better than you know yourself.
And as 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, "We must not be ignorant of the devil's devices."
That's why today, people of God,
I want to talk to you about this very important principle:
Cut out the catalysts.
Let me say it once again - cut out the catalysts!
If you're watching this with someone at home right now,
just turn to them and say, "Cut out the catalysts".
If you are watching by yourself, say it to yourself - cut out the catalysts.
What do I mean by this?
I mean, you must separate yourself
from contact with corrupting and contaminating influences.
No one in this world is above influence
and everyone in this world has a conscience.
Satan knows this.
So, that's why he introduces catalysts as a means to dull your conscience,
to kickstart you down that road to unrighteousness.
Satan knows that in the face of God's armour in your life, he is powerless.
So, he has to try and convince you, to lure you
to let down your guard, drop your weapons, let down your defences
so that then he can strike.
Satan will first tempt you with these catalysts
which may look harmless, may seem innocent at first glance
but introduce you to corrupting influences that are inconsistent with the Word of God.
And if you can be lured into agreeing with this -
maybe through agreeing to watch something,
listen to something or read something
or to go somewhere with someone
where you are exposed to these corrupting and contaminating influences -
if you agree to this under the guise that
'Well, there's no real harm in this. It's not that bad.
I just need a bit of time to relax. God will understand.
I'll only do it once.'
If you agree to that, soon your heart will be disconnected from eternal considerations,
then your conscience becomes dull
and the door for the devil is wide open.
Let me give a practical example of what I'm talking about with these catalysts.
Let's say for example you are someone who has struggled with alcoholism,
with drinking alcohol and you are asking God for help to stop drinking alcohol.
When the devil tempts you, he's not going to immediately introduce you
to alcohol - he will use a catalyst.
'You've had a long day. Why don't you go out with some friends?
Have a good, relaxing time' - whereas the place you are going
is a place where they are selling and celebrating alcohol.
Maybe you're struggling with pornography.
Satan will not come to you immediately and say, 'Go to that pornographic website!'
He will come with a catalyst.
'Why don't you watch this film? It's a really wonderful, great film.
You've had a long day. Relax a little bit and watch this.'
But in that film, there are sexually explicit scenes that will arouse your lust.
Catalyst.
Perhaps you're struggling with an addiction to social media on your phone.
Satan will not just come immediately in that direction.
He will come with a suggestion:
'Why don't you just check the news today? Have a look at this website.'
One leads from another to another.
Before you know it, you are down the rabbit hole.
And if care is not taken, you can give your heart to fleshly desires
and then you are susceptible to temptation.
You are wide open to deception.
When your guard is down, people of God, it will not take long -
the enemy will strike
and you will likely succumb to that very same bad habit
that you vowed to God you would never return to again.
And sin has consequences.
Sin damages our heart.
Sin spoils our heart.
Before you know it, you get into that cycle of guilt, condemnation and inferiority.
In such a state of mind, you can easily be manipulated,
easily be overwhelmed,
easily be offended,
easily be discouraged.
And precious time is wasted on things that have no lasting value or significance.
People of God, cut out the catalysts.
If you knowingly expose yourself to corrupting and contaminating influence,
then you willingly open the door to the devil
and will easily fall into his trap.
And as Christians, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ,
we know that too much has been entrusted to us,
too much is at stake to be toyed with
on the platform of carnality and fleeting fleshly desires.
That's why Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:30,
'If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off'.
What we do not eat, we should not even smell.
Cut out the catalysts.
We must minimise the opportunities for satan to strike our hearts
by engaging it with the Word of God,
by consciously occupying our heart with the things of God,
with God's projects, God's plans, God's agenda,
with eternity's perspective.
As Philippians 4:8 says, 'Whatever things are good,
whatever things are just, noble, excellent, upright, admirable, lovely -
think about such things.
A practical example - start your day with the Word and end your day with the Word.
Let it be the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning
and the last thing you do before you go to rest at night.
The Word of God.
The Holy Spirit has promised to help us in our weaknesses
but our role is to fill our hearts and feed our soul with God's Word.
Then, at the point of temptation,
the Holy Spirit will prompt our heart with the Word that is stored within us.
At the point of temptation, conflict, trouble,
the Holy Spirit will remind us of His Word
and if we do make a mistake or take a wrong step,
the Holy Spirit will prompt our conscience to repentance.
And then we run back to God, not from Him.
At this moment, people of God, let us pray together for the help of the Holy Spirit.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you say yes to righteousness
and no to sin,
to say yes to love and no to lust,
to help you say yes to humility and no to pride,
to help you say yes to faith and no to fear,
in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!
Right now, every demonic influence surrounding your will -
be broken, in the name of Jesus Christ!
Every demonic influence pushing you to do what you don't want to do,
to say what you don't want to say,
to go where you don't want to go,
I say to that demonic influence - be broken!
Be broken!
Be broken right now!
You bad habit - be broken, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ!
Every devilish interference in your life -
in your marriage, family, career, business, finances -
come out right now!
Come out, in the name of Jesus Christ!
Receive your deliverance right now!
Ask God to give you a heart that is obedient to His Word,
in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Thank You, Jesus Christ.
God bless you, people of God.
Thank you for joining us for today's 'Faith Is Natural' and remember -
seek God's heart to see life clearly, in Jesus' name.