I am being oppressed so how do I break free from the bondage of sin?

astral22 said:

My whole life I've dealt with the spirit of depression since the traumatic childhood. That led me to new age and finally home to Jesus. I believe I am saved and have holly spirit, but I am really experiencing some serious spiritual warfare. I've been Christian for years now, so I'm not new in faith.

I'm giving it all to God and praying, but my flesh is weak and I'm failing every day. I repent. Then I still fail. I can't break the cycle. I think it's generational curse. I want to. God won't help me, although I know the war is already won. I guess he has a reason.
Still it feels horrible. I'm dealing with lust and guilt. I'm really sensitive to spiritual things, so I know this obviously is something from evil spirits. I won't go and describe it because it's so clearly demonic.
Sin is enjoyable, our bodies are made to feel pleasure, so I can't help it. I'm constantly tempted.
I confess I've given into sexual sin as an escape from depression. I was drowning in pain. I know it's not the solution, it only makes me feel worse, but it's that small spark of joy (from satan) while my soul is in the dark. That' the only high excitement I have in life. Nothing else can do it. But then I'm tormented even more and I want to stop.
I can't fight this without God and I believe in Jesus, but here I am.

Therapy doesn't work, prayer doesn't. I'm lost. I don't want this in my soul and spirit, I think it goes to other people from me then, but my flesh is out of control. I don't have discipline and it's addictive. Sin is just presented everywhere around me. I make a small mistake like listening to secular music, which I really like, and it just opens the doors for other sins.
I don't know how to live in this world where I can't be free to enjoy what I love. The depression just gets worse that way, if I'm denying myself, I feel dead and empty.
Can anyone who dealt with this help somehow?

Click to expand...

Hi Astral,

"Sin is enjoyable, our bodies are made to feel pleasure, so I can't help it."

This is a lie from the enemy, friend. And you need to repent. Just because it is difficult to fight, it is not impossible. Acknowledge in prayer that what God says is sin is in fact sin, acknowledge in prayer that He promises that you have all you need to overcome it, and ask Him in unceasing prayer to do it FOR you.

One of the main reasons we have the Holy Spirit is to defeat the flesh. We are not to be like the lost: "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of good." 2 Timothy 3:4.

How to fight...

First off, realize that all of us fight the same battle, and sometimes become frustrated with the reality that we live with, ie: the new nature constantly at war with the old nature. God understands!

Romans 7:7-25 NIV

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

"So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

"So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

How to win...

Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."

Astral:
"I don't know how to live in this world where I can't be free to enjoy what I love."

Here's a bit of a shocker. God wants to re-define just what it is that you love in this life. Why? Because He created you. He knows that below all the counterfeit joys this world tempts you with is a far deeper desire that He has planted through His Holy Spirit within you.

Purpose.
Meaning.
A future.

Entertaining ourselves to death doesn't fulfill any of these things. And so the quagmire of depression lingers and we remain in perpetual defeat.

What does satisfy these longings?

Seeing God for Who He really is (through daily prayer and Bible study - so we can recognize His voice and thus love Him).
Loving and serving others (actually caring that they find eternal life, too).
Loving ourselves.

Matthew 25:35-40 NIV

"One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Something that is critical to note: We must seek daily to obey these commandments in the right order... Love God, love neighbor, love yourself. It won't work any other way.

Whitney Houston was wrong - learning to love yourself is NOT the greatest love of all. That's what Satan and the world does, and why it remains blinded and in bondage to sin.

One further bit of encouragement. Don't be ignorant to the devil's schemes - don't be his chump! Through his temptations and deceptions, he is after one thing - your identity.

Scripture says He comes to kill, steal and destroy. Well he knows he can't kill the believer's soul, so he is after the next best thing: to steal our identity, so that he can destroy our testimony. The very two things that give us true joy in this life - the true pleasure of serving Christ - boldly and unashamedly declaring the name of JESUS to a fallen and dying world.

Please invest a minute to watch this vid to remind yourself of just WHO YOU REALLY ARE! And then stand up and FIGHT another day! All your Brothers and Sisters are with you to encourage you and are praying for you.

God bless

You might want to develop a multi-front management plan. You can experiment with variations in diet and nutrition as well as supplementation to see if anything physiological can be of benefit. You may want to break of of a negative internal spiral by shifting your focus to the external such as praying for someone else (that they might be saved or if saved to grow in faith)

Sometimes a break can be made out of the gloom of spiritual warfare by raising the shield of faith. This is sometimes aided by recalling the hymn associated with the following verse;

2Ti_1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Stop beating yourself up because God isn't. Unfortunately, many believers partake of the knowledge of good and evil and try to change themselves. This is self-centeredness and self-effort, a product of trying to live by the law.

As believers we are born again into a much higher realm. We are born of His Spirit and the way to change is to confess our sins, and acknowledge our weaknesses, and appears you are coming to the realization of your weakness to overcome by self-effort. Within you lives the power to break free as you rely on Him and his Spirit. Spend quality time with the Lord confessing your weaknesses. Give it all to Him. Lay it at his feet. Feed your soul on Him and his Word.

No condemnation. It's developing a relationship.

Appears that you may now have developed a soul tie to this sin, just keep leaning on Him and resist the devil when he comes calling. If you are a believer, the power is in you. If you fail, confess it before Him. He's not condemning you. He loves you and wants to set you free from the bondage of living under the law of sin and death. It has no power to free you, but will imprison you in your sin.

And having sexual desires is not a sin of itself. Listening to secular music is not a sin of itself. It is what these things are found in.

True Godly change will come from Godly sorrow. This is a product of his Spirit where we change not due to fear of consequences (self-centeredness and living under the law), but due to love for God foremost, and neighbor as ourselves (God-centeredness-life in the Spirit).

Also, look up to Him. This world can be quite depressing in its current state. Let His Spirit take you to another realm.

We have to trust in God.

When we fall we have to get right back up and run to God's open arms. We cant succeed ourselves. We need to give everything to God. Lay your troubles at His feet.

It is not easy. We are flesh. We are human. We are weak.

Look, the devil may win may many battles in our lives but, be determined that he will NEVER EVER win the war!! NO!!!

You love God. You are sorrowful. God sees your anguish. Persevere in prayer. Try your very best to resist sin but, rest assured that, as you carry your cross in life, Jesus is indeed carrying you!

Dont give up trusting in the mercy of God.

God bless you

Jo555 said:

Stop beating yourself up because God isn't. Unfortunately, many believers partake of the knowledge of good and evil and try to change themselves. This is self-centeredness and self-effort, a product of trying to live by the law.

As believers we are born again into a much higher realm. We are born of His Spirit and the way to change is to confess our sins, and acknowledge our weaknesses, and appears you are coming to the realization of your weakness to overcome by self-effort. Within you lives the power to break free as you rely on Him and his Spirit. Spend quality time with the Lord confessing your weaknesses. Give it all to Him. Lay it at his feet. Feed your soul on Him and his Word.

No condemnation. It's developing a relationship.

Appears that you may now have developed a soul tie to this sin, just keep leaning on Him and resist the devil when he comes calling. If you are a believer, the power is in you. If you fail, confess it before Him. He's not condemning you. He loves you and wants to set you free from the bondage of living under the law of sin and death. It has no power to free you, but will imprison you in your sin.

And having sexual desires is not a sin of itself. Listening to secular music is not a sin of itself. It is what these things are found in.

True Godly change will come from Godly sorrow. This is a product of his Spirit where we change not due to fear of consequences (self-centeredness and living under the law), but due to love for God foremost, and neighbor as ourselves (God-centeredness-life in the Spirit).

Click to expand...

Here is a breakdown that will help you identify if you are walking under the law (partaking of knowledge of good and evil), or free from it.

1. The self-centered life,
2. the law,
3. and fear,
all work in conjunction with each other.

You'll recognize it because you will feel guilty and condemned. It is a life of sin and death. It's a vicious cycle that will leave you in bondage to sin. It will also continue to put the focus back on you.

By contrast, we know that the life of God is:
1. The Jesus-centered life (the self-sacrificing life),
2. the Holy Spirit (Heart of God),
3. and the love of God manifested in the fruits of the Spirit,
also work in conjunction with each other.

You will recognize it as you will find freedom in his love. It transports us to a whole other realm where neither right or wrong is our vision, but just the vision of Him and his love.

I'm not saying that evil does not exist, but that our realm is not to live partaking of the knowledge of good and evil, but partaking of Him and his love.

Do know I'm not looking to criticize you. We all start with knowledge and fear of consequences ... I'm just trying to help you identify what you are walking under at any given time.

There is more, but short on time now.

I will say though that you are identifying why we humans can still gravitate towards sin. You hunger and thirst for living waters. Sin is not the real problem. It is just the product of trying to fill our hunger and thirst for God.

We have a void that only God can fill.

Draw close to him. Be open and honest with Him, as confident in his great love for you and desire to fill you.

Make time for Him
Love on Him
God bless you.
More can be said, but no time now to go into more details.

astral22 said:

My whole life I've dealt with the spirit of depression since the traumatic childhood. That led me to new age and finally home to Jesus. I believe I am saved and have holly spirit, but I am really experiencing some serious spiritual warfare. I've been Christian for years now, so I'm not new in faith.

I'm giving it all to God and praying, but my flesh is weak and I'm failing every day. I repent. Then I still fail. I can't break the cycle. I think it's generational curse. I want to. God won't help me, although I know the war is already won. I guess he has a reason.
Still it feels horrible. I'm dealing with lust and guilt. I'm really sensitive to spiritual things, so I know this obviously is something from evil spirits. I won't go and describe it because it's so clearly demonic.
Sin is enjoyable, our bodies are made to feel pleasure, so I can't help it. I'm constantly tempted.
I confess I've given into sexual sin as an escape from depression. I was drowning in pain. I know it's not the solution, it only makes me feel worse, but it's that small spark of joy (from satan) while my soul is in the dark. That' the only high excitement I have in life. Nothing else can do it. But then I'm tormented even more and I want to stop.
I can't fight this without God and I believe in Jesus, but here I am.

Therapy doesn't work, prayer doesn't. I'm lost. I don't want this in my soul and spirit, I think it goes to other people from me then, but my flesh is out of control. I don't have discipline and it's addictive. Sin is just presented everywhere around me. I make a small mistake like listening to secular music, which I really like, and it just opens the doors for other sins.
I don't know how to live in this world where I can't be free to enjoy what I love. The depression just gets worse that way, if I'm denying myself, I feel dead and empty.
Can anyone who dealt with this help somehow?

Click to expand...

Don't have much time now, but it appears apparent to me that you are bound in legalism and need to find your liberty in Christ. God is not condemning you so stop condemning yourself.

astral22 said:

My whole life I've dealt with the spirit of depression since the traumatic childhood. That led me to new age and finally home to Jesus. I believe I am saved and have holly spirit, but I am really experiencing some serious spiritual warfare. I've been Christian for years now, so I'm not new in faith.

I'm giving it all to God and praying, but my flesh is weak and I'm failing every day. I repent. Then I still fail. I can't break the cycle. I think it's generational curse. I want to. God won't help me, although I know the war is already won. I guess he has a reason.
Still it feels horrible. I'm dealing with lust and guilt. I'm really sensitive to spiritual things, so I know this obviously is something from evil spirits. I won't go and describe it because it's so clearly demonic.
Sin is enjoyable, our bodies are made to feel pleasure, so I can't help it. I'm constantly tempted.
I confess I've given into sexual sin as an escape from depression. I was drowning in pain. I know it's not the solution, it only makes me feel worse, but it's that small spark of joy (from satan) while my soul is in the dark. That' the only high excitement I have in life. Nothing else can do it. But then I'm tormented even more and I want to stop.
I can't fight this without God and I believe in Jesus, but here I am.

Therapy doesn't work, prayer doesn't. I'm lost. I don't want this in my soul and spirit, I think it goes to other people from me then, but my flesh is out of control. I don't have discipline and it's addictive. Sin is just presented everywhere around me. I make a small mistake like listening to secular music, which I really like, and it just opens the doors for other sins.
I don't know how to live in this world where I can't be free to enjoy what I love. The depression just gets worse that way, if I'm denying myself, I feel dead and empty.
Can anyone who dealt with this help somehow?

Click to expand...

So i read what you wrote again and to me it doesn't sound like you really want to give it up because it's your only picker upper right now. No condemnation. Just keep sharing with God because all that guilt and condemnation is not of God. God put the law in place for that and if you are trying to live by the law, you are living under a curse. You won't find freedom there.

But let us not think God is the bad guy. Where would we be without the law in society. The law is good, but it can't change the heart so don't look to change yourself by following rules and regulations. Confess your weaknesses and do your part to draw close to Him, then wait on Him

Don't beat yourself up when you fall short as He is not condemning you.

Do you really think if you don't follow through on your desire that you have not committed sin? The problem is not sin, but the desire of your heart.

So listen, stop going around this exhausting merry-go-round and decide you are going to either take him at his word that he will change you from glory to glory, or you can assume because it isn't working for you it doesn't work.

I have learned that when something in his Word doesn't work it is because my understanding is amiss.

It is your choice, you can either live in the freedom Jesus died to give you so you can be eventually be captured by his love and your desires changed, or you can continue to try and change yourself by the knowledge of good and evil and the law, and sulk in prison complaining that God isn't changing you.

astral22 said:

My whole life I've dealt with the spirit of depression since the traumatic childhood. That led me to new age and finally home to Jesus. I believe I am saved and have holly spirit, but I am really experiencing some serious spiritual warfare. I've been Christian for years now, so I'm not new in faith.

I'm giving it all to God and praying, but my flesh is weak and I'm failing every day. I repent. Then I still fail. I can't break the cycle. I think it's generational curse. I want to. God won't help me, although I know the war is already won. I guess he has a reason.
Still it feels horrible. I'm dealing with lust and guilt. I'm really sensitive to spiritual things, so I know this obviously is something from evil spirits. I won't go and describe it because it's so clearly demonic.
Sin is enjoyable, our bodies are made to feel pleasure, so I can't help it. I'm constantly tempted.
I confess I've given into sexual sin as an escape from depression. I was drowning in pain. I know it's not the solution, it only makes me feel worse, but it's that small spark of joy (from satan) while my soul is in the dark. That' the only high excitement I have in life. Nothing else can do it. But then I'm tormented even more and I want to stop.
I can't fight this without God and I believe in Jesus, but here I am.

Therapy doesn't work, prayer doesn't. I'm lost. I don't want this in my soul and spirit, I think it goes to other people from me then, but my flesh is out of control. I don't have discipline and it's addictive. Sin is just presented everywhere around me. I make a small mistake like listening to secular music, which I really like, and it just opens the doors for other sins.
I don't know how to live in this world where I can't be free to enjoy what I love. The depression just gets worse that way, if I'm denying myself, I feel dead and empty.
Can anyone who dealt with this help somehow?

Click to expand...

Sounds like examining the underlying principles and applying (only) what produces Godly fruit is in order. This can take some trial and error.

Probably won't be here much longer as I don't believe this is a good place to grow spiritually. Find a good fellowship where people are truly interested in growing in Him. No place is perfect, but some places are definitely better than others.

It is my opinion that this place is not a healthy place to learn and grow, especially for those growing in the Lord and his love for them. They need to be protected and nurtured, and this doesn't seem a safe place for them to me.

God bless you. I pray that the eyes of your heart be opened to his grace and love. May you forget yourself as you grow in the vision of Him and his great love for you, in Jesus name. Amen.