Patterns to Destiny Part 2

One of the hardest things to do in life is break a pattern you have been enacting for years. The effort involved can be enormous and very taxing. It’s one of the main reasons many of us do not change. Another reason many of us do not change is, we do not know how to change.

In 'Patterns To Destiny' part 1, I showcased Samson and his patterns of philandering with harlots and other women (Judges 16), that ultimately ruined him before his forgiving cry out to the Lord. Samson's downfall came from a pattern in his life, more than likely that started small, and morphed into an incessant action, which eventually created his inability to stop his sinful ways. That's what sin does. Small lies by the enemy to eventually get you to a point of absolute weakness and darkness. Samson's decisions locked him into an unconscious pattern of sin, which brought him to absolute weakness and blindness. The result of his spirit dying. This made him worthless. In John 8:34, Jesus speaks how anyone who commits sin is a servant to sin.  As strong as Samson was, he couldn't stop the power sin had over him. Being a servant means someone else has power over you. I highlighted that story and others, to share how significant the punishments can be from our continuous decisions which create patterns and most times, the inability to stop because of our lack of knowledge to what sin does, and it's stronghold.

When we continue to give our words to something or commit our time to something, we create a bond with it. If you understand anything about bonds, they are hard to break. That is why the bible references bondman or bondwoman as a slave or a person of weakness. For example, stopping a pattern of smoking cigarettes has many psychological and physical drawbacks, such as cravings, low mood, irritability and more. The forces behind those drawbacks can be so strong it may feel impossible to be able to quit. This is the servant Jesus is talking about in John 8:34. The power sin takes from us is one of the reasons the Lord is against sin.  God designed us with strength and vision. Sin works contrary to how God created us. When we create a pattern of sin, we have essentially signed a contract to let it know it has the legal right to take our strength and place us in bondage. This is why we need the power of the almighty God, Jesus Christ to break us free from our blindness and bondage. Jesus is the only one who can free us from this contract we have placed ourselves in. The Lord is the only one who has defeated the enemy, and whose name the enemy bows down to and has to listen to.

I want to open your eyes to sin and the debilitating nature of it. In Romans 6:23 it says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The "death" the Bible is speaking of is to your spirit. When your spirit dies, you are worthless in God's kingdom. Death to your spirit does not always mean immediate death in the flesh, but it does mean you are worthless to God's kingdom. Why? Because all of your gifts have been stripped and taken away from you by your actions and given to the enemy. This is where Satan gets his power from -- our sins. Now, God cannot use you for his purpose and will. Also, we commit sins in large magnitude and do not fix them, we pass those same sins down to our children. This is why it is paramount to understand sin and why it is so difficult to stop sinning.

 When we create patterns, we are actually making a covenant or contract with whatever our pattern is. Covenants are agreements that signify to that specific pattern in our life, “I give myself to you.” “I am loyal to you.” “Sign me up for our regular interactions everyday, every month or every year.” In these agreements (contracts), we sign with our patterns, we never read the fine print, which is the future repercussions of how weak and powerless these decisions will make us. And sometimes physical death. Most of the time we do not realize the damage we are doing to ourself and the bondage we are placing ourselves in with these covenants. If we do realize what we are doing to ourselves by these sins and do not care, this is another lie from the enemy to make us believe no one cares for us and our life does not matter.

When we commit sins, we are in darkness. Darkness is ignorance. We are in ignorance when we commit sins and do not understand the ramifications of sin.  If we knew what sins truly did to us, and how the power of Jesus Christ can free us from this, we would not continue to commit sins. The enemy wants to keep us blind to continue to ruin ourselves and not receive all the wonderful things the Lord has for us. Satan does not want us blessed like he used to be before he fell. In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 it says, "But if our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, unless the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The main point in this verse, the gospel being hid to them that are lost. Samson knew the Lord, but he was still lost because he continued to sin and philander with harlots. Remember, Satan lost all he had -- which was an abundance of blessings from God. Since he (Satan) is dead and is worthless and cast out of God's kingdom, he wants to deceive as many as possible to join him in his misery and everlasting torment. But Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.  It is very important that we learn more about sin and its ramifications.