Breaking Free from Spiritual Abuse – Part 2

How to break out of spiritual abuse

Can you just leave the church where you were abused and be done with it? No. It’s not enough to just leave the place where you were abused. We have to use our spiritual weapons to pull up the foundations and pull down the structure. This same structure can also be in a family life or in a marriage. If we don’t break it spiritually, it’s going to continue to happen over and over again.

If it’s not dealt with and destroyed, it will eventually produce bad fruit. Some examples of bad fruit are false teaching, false doctrine, false prophet, false apostle, false covering, false miracles, false authority, false mantle, false circumcision, false Sheppard, false submission, false anointing, false power, false rod, and a hireling.

There are several areas we must work through to be free from the system of abuse.

• Fear of the church- The mentality that it is not safe
• Fear of authority
• Fear of relationship
• Fear of trusting
• Violation of trust
• Injustice
• Isolation
• Resistance to submit to the Holy Spirit because of wrong submission
• Elitism
• Private Revelations
• Intimidation
• Dress Codes
• Diet Codes
• Harsh Discipline and verbal Abuse
• Perceived persecution
• Manipulation by distortion of the Gospel
• Shame Messages that wound the spirit
• Using and abusing God’s word
• Raping of ones spiritual life
• Our denomination has greater revelation
• Over balance on commitment
• Brain washing and indoctrination
• Division
• Money abuse
• Time abuse
• Abuse on gifting
• Emotional abuse

We must choose to trust. We must choose relationship and come into God’s approval. We must renounce the abuse of ungodly or religious authority and all of it’s guilt and shame.

As we pull down the strongman of abuse, we will see the full release of the structure of God, which is the Spirit.

So now lets take a closer look at Godly authority:

• Has a servants heart
• Meekness
• Humility
• Called By God
• Death to Self
• Submitting Ourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord
• Godly Standards
• Godly discipline
• Taking accountability before God

When Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of a particular portion of the body of Christ, the foundation will have the approval of God, Love and acceptance, Godly Apostle and Prophet. (Eph 2:20) He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

You will feel secure about who you are in Christ and you will be built on the rock.

Traps:

Jer 5:26 For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

Jer 5:27 Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and grown rich.

Jer 5:28 They have become fat, they shine. Yes, they go past the deeds of the wicked; they do not judge the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may get rich; and they do not judge the right of the needy.

Jer 5:29 Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Jer 5:30 An astounding and horrible thing has happened in the land.

Jer 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so, and what will you do at the end of it?

Traps are easy to get into but very difficult to get out of. Mouse trap, raccoon trap. The leader uses power, scare tactics and threats, demands obedience and gets loyalty. When you leave the system, people are told they are leaving God and His protection or covering. Paranoia quickly sets in making people afraid to leave because they ae afraid of what is outside.

Trap Baits

Flattery is often the bait, backed with status or position within the church. This bait is used against us in our place of vulnerability. Which is being emotionally hungry, especially for a father figure and acceptance.

Poisons

The bait is poison.

Mat 12:34 Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Jesus calls religious abusers a brood of vipers. Vipers are highly poisonous snakes. They cause death by a slow and very painful method which is to latch on and not let go. They gather in cool caves where a person would imagine they could get rest and refreshment. The venom is perform, perform, perform.

If you have been bit by a viper in the past you need to break the power of that poison that has gone into your system through words. We must be healed from past bites and throw off the vipers.

Abuse from a Sheppard

The primary function of a Sheppard is to protect, guard and keep the flock safe and be a Sheppard of love. If the Sheppard abuses the victim is left thinking I am not protected so I need to protect myself.

It is so easy to subtly move from a position of dependence to independence. If you find you are in a position where you must protect yourself, instead of allowing your Sheppard to protect you we need to renounce a false Sheppard, fear of the Sheppard, anger of the Sheppard, despising of the Sheppard and the hireling.

We must renounce each of these if we are going to be healed and restored to the Sheppard called by God. Without a Sheppard we can be devoured an totally destroyed. Now meditate on Psalm 23 until you get a new revelation on it.

Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. Jehovah is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

Psa 23:2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

Psa 23:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psa 23:5 You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah forever.

What is a hireling

A false Sheppard. Has no heart for the people. Is hash, cruel, forceful, drives the sheep, ambitious for position, dominates and labors for money. Wounds the sheep instead of healing the sheep.

Tit 1:9 holding fast the faithful Word according to the doctrine, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convict the gainsayers.

Tit 1:10 For there are indeed many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,

Tit 1:11 whose mouth you must stop, who subvert whole houses, teaching things not right for the sake of ill gain.

God is dealing with everything that is false. He is shaking everything that can be shaken, including ungodly structures. He is bringing His fire to all ungodly motivations, attitudes, and emotions.

The new structure will create a safe environment for the harvest of the church. It will be a safe place for new lambs to be born. God is birthing a leadership of integrity, character and humility.

Victims of spiritual abuse often struggle with a distorted image of God, they feel that God is never satisfied with their performance. They also feel God is powerless to help because he didn’t rescue them. Victims has a negative self identity, problems relating to spiritual authority, they have a difficulty receiving grace, they struggle with shame for getting into spiritual abuse, they struggle with having a teachable spirit and a openness to receive.

6 Reasons Why Some People Stay In Spiritual Abuse

1. They did not recognize that there has always been a cycle of abuse in their life.

2. They are addicted to abuse and addicted to dependency.

3. They are in a form of denial of the abuse.

4. The next stage after denial is delusion. When the delusion sets in, the truth can not easily penetrate.

5. The emotional hunger is being satisfied so abuse is a worthy price to pay.

6. The victim has been manipulated most of their life and it is normal for them.