Sid: There are certain things that many believers have if not most believers have the Bible calls them little foxes bondages, compulsive habits, shame based thinking that stop you from being free, therefore stop the glory from God from being all God wants for you and stop you from fulfilling your destiny. Have you said “You know I think there is something stopping me but I’ve prayed, I’ve fasted I’ve read the Bible I’ve prayed in tongues, I’ve mediated on scripture, I’ve done all of these principals but there is something gnawing at me I’m really not that free I have a compulsion to watch TV, I have a compulsion to gossip, I have a compulsion to tell little white lies or to stretch the truth, I have a compulsion to smoke, I have a compulsion for drugs, I have a compulsion for sexual thoughts.” Where is this coming from, what really drives this compulsion? If you understood the source and then understood how Jesus has broken this for you you could be free and accomplish your destiny and accomplish that intimacy with God that you want it’s so deep in your heart. That’s why I’ve asked my friend Craig Hill to teach us. He’s Founder of Family Foundations International. We’re offering his book “Freedom from Compulsion Habits, Bondage Broken” and “Identifying Shame” a 3 audio cassette teaching that explains what’s behind these compulsive problems the two really go together. So Craig how did you get a revelation on what really drives compulsion?
Craig: You know Sid years ago I was experiencing the same type of frustration and I shouldn’t say “Years ago” because I think that a lot of us repeat this experience periodically where we find things in our lives that simply don’t work; and we’re frustrated because as you say we pray and we seek God, we read scripture, we do everything we know to do and it just doesn’t seem to change. But I got a revelation several years ago from Hebrews chapter 4 verse 10 that says “Therefore there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God for the one that has entered into His rest (That is God’s rest) has himself also rested from his works as God did from his.” And what I suddenly saw is that in these compulsions these types of things like overeating or fingernail biting, things that were just real simple things that were going on in my own life that there was a deception that I wasn’t aware of and the deception was my flesh was very busy working trying to bring a false comfort to an area of my soul that was not yet peace. And what I began to see was this that any time the soul is not at peace the flesh gets real busy working to try to do something to bring a false comfort, a false peace to that area where the soul is out of peace.
Sid: And as you explained we don’t know where soul isn’t at peace, the only way we know is by the smoke that shows that our soul isn’t at peace. And the smoke is the overeating, the drinking, the compulsive habits, the watching TV, the talking so much etcetera.
Craig: Exactly, years ago when I saw this I did have a really funny experience on a Saturday one day. It was one of those days when it was a real cloudy rainy outside, I was bored I had a thousand things to do and I really didn’t want to do any of them. And I thought well I’ll just sit down and watch TV for a little while. And I was sitting there and watching TV and all of a sudden a thought came into my mind “You need potato chips” and I thought “Yes, potato chips.” So I went and got a big bag of potato chips and I ate a whole bunch of them.
Sid: You’re making me hungry Craig. (Laughing)
Craig: Plus came “You need Pepsi” so I went and got a big bottle of Pepsi and I was drinking that and that made me feel better. And here just a little while later came another thought, “You need Pizza.” And I thought “Yes, Pizza that’s what I need.” And I was on my way to get the Pizza and the Holy Spirit stopped me He said “What are you doing?” I said “I’m eating.” And He said “Why?” I said “Because I’m hungry.” And then I heard this He said “Son, you’re not hungry you’re deceived because you just had lunch a short time ago and so you don’t have a nutritional need you’re not eating food of nutritional value you’re eating because something deep on the inside is out of peace and you’re using food to try to comfort that.” And then the Lord said a thing that I’ll never forget He said “Son in reality you’re in idolatry.”
Sid: Ooh!
Craig: And I thought “Idolatry, that’s sounded sort of serious I thought…
Sid: Because you wanted some Pepsi and potato chips.
Craig: Exactly and I thought you killed people for that in the Old Testament that’s sort of serious, “What do You mean idolatry any way I haven’t been bowing down worshiping little stone figures recently, what do You mean?” The Lord said this to me and I’ll never forget it He said “Whatever you look to as a source of life and comfort and peace that is god to you and today you have decided that I AM not your God you have shut Me out of your life and you’ve decided that food will be your god today.”
Sid: You know that is so profound that would you please repeat that and Mispochah listen clearly to what Craig is saying.
Craig: Well the Lord just said to me “You’re in idolatry and He said “Anything that you look to as a source of life, a source of peace, a source of comfort is God to you.” And the Lord said “Son I Am Jehovah Shalom, I Am God your peace, I Am the Prince of Peace, I want to come and be your peace today but Son today you have shut Me out of your life and instead you’re looking to food and you’re drawing comfort and life from food and so today you’ve decided food is your god and you’ve got Me shut out of your life.” And when the Lord said that to me I began to weep, I said “God that’s the last thing I’d ever want to do, I love You Lord, I want to serve You, I want my whole life to be given over to You, I don’t want to be looking to something else as God.” And the Lord said “That’s exactly what you’re doing you’re allowing your flesh to rise up and to offer to you a false peace, a false comfort instead of looking to Me; and you don’t have a need for food you just got a great big gaping emotional hold on the inside and you’re trying to fill it up with food instead of coming to Me and allowing Me to fill that, allowing Me to love you, allowing Me to be your life.” And you know underneath that soul being out of peace there’s something that drives that, you know what cause the soul to be out of peace? Well, you know the Lord showed me from 1st John chapter 4 verse 18 where it says “Perfect love casts out fear, for fear hath torment.” And when I read that you know there’s torment sound like something a little bit not peaceful?
Sid: Of course.
Craig: And you know what I discovered is that beneath the soul being out of peace there is always a fear there, there’s an intense deep fear that has been put there that is really like fuel that burns whenever that fear gets simulated and it’s not an intellectual level it’s on an emotional. Fear is really one of two areas it’s really “I’m not loved and I have no value or it’s a deep fear my needs are not going to be met.”
Sid: And many times we’re not even aware of what you just said that’s so buried.
Craig: No, we don’t know the fear is there you know if you take these steps backward…
Sid: Someone would deny if you confront them because you’re dealing with fear.
Craig: That’s right but again the proof’s in the pudding if it’s not there then why are you doing this, why are you struggling with overeating, why are you struggling with anger, why are you struggling with impure thoughts? Again when I found Sid for example with pornography so many men struggle and battle with impure thoughts and pornography but it has nothing to do with sex it simply has to do with something deep on the inside where the soul is out of peace. The reason the soul is out of peace is there is a deep tormenting fear on the inside, “Fear hath torment.” And if we get down to the bottom line how do you get rid of fear well again 1st John 4:18 tells us “Perfect love casts out fear.” So when obviously when I see an external going on of impure thought or somebody struggling with pornography I know that that person’s soul is out of peace. And I know the reason that soul is out of peace is because there’s some kind of fear tormenting on an emotional level and I know that the reason that fear is there because sometime and somewhere in that persons life something’s happen to them that created an inability to receive love in that particular area. The bottom line the way that we’re going to get rid of that we know that perfect love casts out fear. So when I get to the root of that and discover where did that… where is the fuel, where is the fire the fuel. The bottom line is a lack of love, a lack of the love of the Father. So when I have by experience have not received either by revelation or by experience the love of the Father I will by default have an area where fear is functioning and that fear will torment my soul, push it out of peace. And when the soul is out of peace my flesh will do something externally to bring a comfort. And if all we do is try to stop the overeating, stop the anger, stop the lust, stop the fingernail biting, stop whatever the external is all we’re doing is trying to manage that external like managing smoke leaving the fire raging burning on the inside and the fuel is still in tack and Jesus didn’t die for…
Sid: Let’s talk on tomorrow’s broadcast of what to do about the problem when you identify them. But what happened with your overeating medication through the food to take care of that soul that was not in peace?
Craig: When I got that revelation of idolatry it just broke my heart Sid and I began to weep before the Lord and I said “Lord what do you want what do You want me to do?” And He said “I want you to run to Me, come to Me instead of the food.” And so I did, I repented and renounced I was looking to food as a comfort, I came to the Lord and I said “Lord Jesus where is this coming from?” And the Lord began to show me some pain on the inside and feeling of worthlessness and of being of no value. And He said “I want you to just ask Me a simple question.” I said “Lord, what’s the question?” He said “And the question is who am I?” And I said “Lord who am I?” And the amazing thing happened I began to experience His love, He began to speak to me the truth of who I am and deep on the inside that began to fill something on an emotional level on the inside. And as that filling came it drove out the fear and as the fear left the soul came back into peace.
Sid: Whoa, we’re out of time…
