Dismantling Satan’S Kingdom Brick by Brick: Walking in the Freedom and Victory Christ Bought for You

By Chris Clark

This book tackles issues most people within the Christian community don't like to talk about the ungodly desires, habits, false security, or pleasures that have them in bondage. For the sake of keeping it real with the readers, I share my personal testimonies of past struggles making it easier to face up to anything that has you in bondage and press forward toward Christ.

I pray that as many people as possible can be exposed to the gospel and walk in the freedom, victory and authority Christ bought for us. I am a living witness that doing so will help you stop living below your potential and trust Christ in every aspect of your life.

If you are a big fan of the truth, you will find hope and encouragement in the messages found between the pages of this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449781859

Chris Clark

Chris Clark graduated from the Royal Military College 1972 and served in the Australian Army Intelligence Corps until 1979. Following this he worked in the Departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Prime Minister and Cabinet. After writing commissioned histories for six years, during which time he completed a PhD at the Australian Defence Force Academy, he worked at the Australian National University and the Australian War Memorial. From 2004, until he retired nine years later, he was RAAF Historian and Head of the Office of Air Force History. He has written extensively on aspects of Australian defence over many years in a variety of publications—as sole author, contributor and editor.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

A Letter To The Church

Chapter 2

Someone Has To Say Something

Chapter 3

The Big Picture

Chapter 4

My Test For My Testimony

Chapter 5

Giving Up Isn’t An Option

Chapter 6

The Fight Is Fixed

Chapter 7

Bad Stuff Happening To Good People

Chapter 8

Not All Roads Lead To Heaven

Chapter 9

Exposing The Jezebel Spirit

Chapter 10

One-Way Sign Pointing To Christ

Chapter 11

God’s Command To Forgive

Chapter 12

Oh, Yeah—Let’s Talk About Sex

Chapter 13

Oops, I Spilled The Beans

Chapter 14

You Weren’t Born That Way

Chapter 15

A Secret Affair In The Dark

Chapter 16

Husbands, Love Your Wives Just As Christ Loved The Church

Chapter 17

Submission To Your Husband

Chapter 18

On Pins And Needles

Chapter 19

It’s Not About You

Chapter 20

Was It All A Dream?

Epilogue

About The Author

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank You Lord for using me, in spite of my imperfections, to convey a message that points directly to You!

To my wife, Makesha: You are a strong, dignified, multitalented, and caring woman; a premier example of a Proverbs 31 woman.

Preface

THIS BOOK TACKLES ISSUES most people within the Christian community don’t like to talk about—the ungodly desires, habits, false security, or pleasures which have them in bondage. For the sake of keeping it real with the readers, I share my personal testimonies of past struggles; making it easier to face up to anything that has you in bondage and press forward toward Christ. If you are a big fan of the truth, you will find hope and encouragement in the messages found between the pages of this book.

Introduction

I SUPPOSE IT COULD be said that this book is a big reality check, a giant horse pill, and a loving warning hot off heaven’s press. Well, whatever the case, what you are about to read is definitely an unapologetic stand for the truth of God’s Word. Today, saying, I’m a Christian, to some people is a mere assertion made with little or no proof! Thinking you can receive Jesus Christ then continue to live with no evidence of being born again completely divorces you from reality! So many people (including church folks) act like the Bible is just some published document of fiction and nonfiction stories that merely entertain us. Well, the Devil is always lying. The Bible is a narrative of man’s rebellion and God’s initiative to repair the broken relationship.

Oftentimes, we fall into the trap of doing things due to religion or to please others. Do you know what I hate more than anything? Religion! Boy, oh, boy, I hate religion. See, religion is man’s superficial aspect of faith in God through man-made ways, such as good works and/or religiously clinging to certain rules, rituals, and regulations. Not to mention when it comes to people pleasing, God isn’t concerned with any approval you may get from others. As a matter of fact, having man’s approval is often in direct opposition to having the approval of God. True Christianity is God’s search for lost mankind by giving His Son, Jesus Christ! It’s about reconciliation, which cannot be found outside of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and mine. Christianity is also about a personal relationship with Christ and adhering to biblical principles, which allows mankind to walk in freedom.

People may not want to believe this, but America’s Christian values rapidly declined after the US Supreme Court’s removal of prayer from our nation’s schools. Now we have generations of people that act as if it’s more important to maintain fidelity with Unitarianism rather than standing on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Well, what we’re witnessing today in our society are people that know God but don’t glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. This explains how people can understand the Word of God intellectually, behave externally according to the revelation of God, yet their hearts are hardened toward living to please Him. Satan is turning up the heat, so to speak, because he knows his time is limited. The worst is yet to come. Wake up, children of God. There’s a war in progress. Not putting on the full armor of God daily is like showing up to a gunfight with a butter knife.

Have you noticed that it’s becoming a frequent occurrence that thousands of people are perishing as the earth spasms? Never since the days of Noah has the world been faced with so many catastrophes. Well, earthquakes and other disasters are signs as well as a message from God to all of us! This book serves as a wake-up call for us to repent as well as a call to righteousness!

Approximately three years ago, I decided to share on Facebook daily devotionals that were anchored in biblical principles. I asked the Lord to use me. I also made a promise to never post anything that’s like a pendulum swinging from biblical principles to worldly standards. Well, I’ve been standing firm on my promise and don’t care if my legalistic tendencies irritated people when sharing biblical principles in love. Now look at God! This book allows the reader to connect on a deeper level with the messages still available on my Facebook wall.

Before writing this book, I asked the Lord to bless me with a message that can reach down into a person’s soul and shake the death out of them! A critical deadline is approaching, and one day people are going to gravely regret not taking heed to the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Listen, God’s unmerited favor is like a governor’s pardon which can be given to a guilty prisoner who’s facing death. Keep living your life to the fullest without God, and that grace can definitely run out!

Each chapter is going to be like Hansel and Gretel leaving a breadcrumb trail allowing you to clearly see how to make it out of the wilderness in your life.

chapter 1

A Letter to the Church

PAUL, THE APOSTLE, ESTABLISHED a Christian community in Corinth around the year AD 51 and continued to look after it as a father figure, responding to questions addressed to him and pressing issues that arose. While Paul was on his second missionary trip (Acts 15:36–39), he and a dynamic evangelist named Barnabas disagreed sharply over Mark. See, Paul didn’t want to take Mark with him because Mark had left Paul hanging and taken off on Paul earlier (in Acts 13:13).

I’m sure many of us could relate to how Paul was feeling. How many people have you run across that you could almost rely on them to be unreliable? You may experience this type of behavior from people because they take their relationship with you for granted.

I would love to know why Mark left Paul and Barnabas. Regrettably, no reason is given, which leaves us speculating like a bunch of gossipers. However, their disagreement caused Jesus’ disciples to form two teams, which created two missionary endeavors instead of one.

Paul and Barnabas’ actions sound familiar, right? We can certainly relate, can’t we? We often squabble among ourselves about some of the most trivial things, which only make us look disunited. Friends, God can work through our disapproval of each other, because there’s nothing too hard for Him. Even in situations of conflict or hostility, our positive communication can pave new roads of unity and partnership with Christ.

Mark later became the nuts and bolts of Paul’s ministry. This proves as a body of believers, we may not always see eye to eye but problems can be solved. Imagine for a moment how much we could help advance God’s kingdom here on earth if we could agree to disagree with no strings attached.

While Paul was on his third journey, he learned that the community had become divided, as members began identifying themselves with different religious leaders (Acts 19:1–20). I am convinced the separation that was evident in the church circa AD 51, along with today’s church, is only a mirror reflection of what originally took place in heaven. Hear me out. When Lucifer was in heaven, he possessed so many virtues and talents that God placed him in a position of authority. At this time, rebellion didn’t exist. Lucifer was a created being and left the creative hand of God in a perfect state (Ezekiel 28:12- 15). And he remained perfect in his ways until unrighteousness was found in him (verse 15). Lucifer became jealous of God. He wanted to be the same as God and stood proudly declaring how he should be equal with God. So he argued and convinced some of the angels to rebel against the authority of God. Needless to say the angels in heaven were divided. I can only imagine some of the angels feeling closer to Lucifer because they were under his authority. We may never really understand how Satan could deceive those who went with him, but we can see his foolishness operating clearly in today’s church.

Satan’s one ambition is to deprive God of His fellowship and union with us. He also wants to deprive our fellowship with one another. Satan knows the Bible better than most Christians and always wants to affirm some passage and use it to lead us into disobedience.

The spirit of division is still prevalent in our churches, just like the days of the early Christian community. Its mission is to fracture the church, thus weakening the body and rendering ministry ineffective. How ironic, as Paul’s first letter to Corinthians, written circa AD 56 in response to various issues they raised, are the same issues we face today. Paul’s plea for Christian unity is still loud and clear.

Samuel Butler, a nineteenth-century British novelist, said, People in general are equally horrified at hearing the Christian religion doubted, and at seeing it practiced. Today this seems to be an all-too-common outlook on the body of Christ. A Christian should set an example by being different. If many of us would stop playing church, then we would be distinguished from all the other people on earth.

Are you a Christian? If you are, then your life should be a ministry that helps to bring the message of salvation, redemption, and compassion to a lost world. Christians bring Jesus into focus for the rest of the world.

God has called us to live above the standards of this world. How can a Christian be a light to a dark world if he or she is blending in with the world