Deliverance Matters: God's Strategic and Tactical Guide to Overcoming Strongholds in Your Life - Softcover

Harmon, Maurice

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490743103 ISBN 13: 9781490743103

Publisher: Trafford, 2014

Synopsis

Are you struggling to break free from the clutches of pornography? Are you losing the battle to sexual perversion in your mind and spirit or know someone who is? Are you seeking help concerning your condition of pornographic addiction and sexual perversion but don't know where to turn? If so, this powerful strategy guide was written for you. In this book, you will learn the following: Why people are attracted to pornography and sexual perversion Pornography's origin and motive The damages pornography and sexual perversion cause naturally and spiritually How to identify and sever every negative soul tie in your life How to guard your mind and spirit against sexual perversion How to break free from pornography and sexual perversion This book will empower and equip you for the battle you are fighting against sexual perversion. Be glad and encouraged for God has sent you a powerful weapon to destroy every yoke of sexual perversion in your life!

About this title

About the Author

Dr. M.D. Harmon lives in Maryland with his wife and children. They all serve as devotion leaders at Christian Shelter in Salisbury, Maryland. Dr. Harmon and his wife attend New Life Ministry in Salisbury, MD under the leadership of Pastor Thomas R. Hoy Jr. Dr. Harmon began preaching nationally in 2004. He has touched many lives, leading the lost to deliverance, healing, and peace in God. Dr. Harmon has survived several years of sexual abuse and molestation as a young child. Years of molestation led him into the dark world of pornography at the age of twelve. After spending his teen and young adult life in pornography and promiscuity, God saved him. However, after being saved, the soul ties and connection with pornography were not severed. Years of praying and studying led God to reveal to Dr. Harmon how to remove the roots of sexual perversion from his life. God revealed to Dr. Harmon how to severe all of the soul ties created during his years of promiscuity. The walk to freedom was difficult, treacherous, and long. However, the mercy and grace of God, along with Dr. Harmon's faith in God, gave him the victory over pornography and sexual perversion. Dr. M.D. Harmon now shares the strategies and faith revealed to him through God to help others escape the bondage of sexual perversion and pornography.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Deliverance Matters

God's Strategic and Tactical Guide to Overcoming Strongholds in Your Life Vol. 1

By Maurice Harmon

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Maurice Harmon
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4310-3

Contents

Foreword, vii, 
Introduction, ix, 
Chapter 1: What Draws You To It?, 1, 
Chapter 2: Pornography's Motive, 10, 
Chapter 3: The Gates Of The Soul, 17, 
Chapter 4: Soft-Core Pornography, 32, 
Chapter 5: Hard-Core Pornography, 36, 
Chapter 6: The Damage Pornography Causes Naturally, 49, 
Chapter 7: The Damage Pornography Causes Spiritually, 57, 
Chapter 8: The Truth About The Pornography Industry And Its Performers, 63, 
Chapter 9: How To Be Set Free From Pornography: Part One (Admitting And Confessing The Issue Exists), 68, 
Chapter 10: How To Be Set Free From Pornography: Part Two (Forgiving Yourself And Disconnecting From It), 76, 
Chapter 11: How To Be Set Free From Pornography: Part Three (Understanding What Deliverance Is And What It Entails), 84, 
Conclusion, 103, 
End Notes, 115, 
About the Author, 117, 
References, 119, 

CHAPTER 1

WHAT DRAWS YOU TO IT?

Over the years, I have heard many people try to answer the same question: "What draws you to pornography?" I have heard all kinds of reasons for why people believe that they gravitate to pornography and other sinful, sexual desires. Some have said that they were born with this condition. Others have said childhood trauma caused the condition. Nonetheless, if they cannot answer this question then they cannot uproot the weeds of sexual perversion and pornography from the soil of their hearts.

No matter what a person may or may not believe attracts him or her to sexual perversion, there is one common denominator. In most cases, it is closer than the individual could ever suspect. The individual overtaken in sexual perversion may dance around this denominator as if to be looking for some other root cause. However, if the individual will look deep within his own self, he will find the answer that seemingly has eluded him. He will find the true root of sexual perversion and all other sin. That root is iniquity!

Iniquity in Us

Many Christians confuse sin and iniquity and use them as interchangeable terms. However, the Bible clearly indicates that there is a difference between the two. Understanding the difference between sin and iniquity could be the difference in you uprooting sexual perversion from your heart and you remaining in it. Let us gather understanding by beginning with iniquity. What exactly is iniquity? Iniquity is what is on the inside of us that causes us to sin. Sin is the transgression or the act of breaking God's law. This means that sin and iniquity cannot be one in the same. However, where you find sin it is certain that iniquity preceded it! Where you find iniquity not dealt with, you can be certain sin is following!

Whether you accept it or not, part of you, deep inside, enjoys sexual perversion because it brings you temporary pleasure and relief. It provides you with a fantasy that you wish to have. It numbs the pain of the nightmares of your past, helping you to forget what happened to you, if only for a moment. Although a part of you wants to break free, you still seek the high of sexual perversion and pornography because you are addicted. That addiction stems from your iniquity, and your iniquity has taken root in your heart and in your mind.

Notice what the Bible says about Satan before he sinned against God.

You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.

You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

Ezekiel 28:12-15 NKJV

Satan's original condition was immaculate, beautiful, and perfect! God had established him as the highest of all angels. Satan was perfect in all of his ways from the beginning, but he was brought low! When was he brought low? When iniquity, or what was on the inside of him, caused him to sin. It was Satan's iniquity that caused his rebellion against God. It was Satan's iniquity that caused him to covet God's position, even though he knew he could not be like God. It was Satan's iniquity that caused him to become prideful.

How are you fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!

For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.

Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the lowest depths of the pit.

Isaiah 14:12-15 NKJV

Satan's pride caused him to be booted out of heaven, but not before he persuaded a third of the angels of God to follow him. (See Revelations 12:3-4.) Satan's final destination is hell, and he wants to take you, me, and anyone else he can along with him. (See Revelations 20:9-10.) This is why it is so important for us to understand the iniquity that is in us and to ask God to wash us clean of it. David understood this concept very well! "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity [what was on the inside of him that caused him to sin], and cleanse me from my sin [the act of breaking God's law]" (Psalm 51:2 NKJV).

Satan Uses You against You

The reason that it is imperative that you and I deal with the iniquity that is on the inside of us is because Satan uses you against you. He takes the iniquity or the potential to sin and entices us. Many of us know this as temptation. No matter who you are or what you do, no matter where you live or what you drive, no matter where you go to church or where you work, no matter what title you hold or what your social status is, we are all subject to temptation. In fact, we have all been tempted at one point or another. And guess what. You will be tempted again. Some of us might be going through some form of temptation right at this moment.

Understand that Satan uses temptation to get our focus off kingdom assignment. God wants our focus to be on our kingdom assignment, so that we might cause earth to look like the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, it is not God that tempts us. Many people blame God for their temptations, but it is not He that tempts anyone with evil. I have conducted many teachings and seminars concerning sexual perversion and pornography. Each time, I am overwhelmingly surprised at the number of born-again believers who believe that God made them this way, and this is why it is so hard to get free. Despite what they believe, the role of temptation belongs to Satan. James understood this concept, and God inspired him to write about it.

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires [iniquity] and enticed

Then, when desire [iniquity] has conceived, it gives birth to sin [the act of breaking God's law]; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.

James 1:13-15 NKJV

You see, God is not the one behind your temptation! He would never put you in a situation that would cause you to fail. God wants you to succeed against the Devil and his plots. God knows that it is a struggle to resist what Satan is offering. He knows how cunning and crafty the Devil is. This is why God is pulling for you! He does not want you to remain in bondage. He wants you to be free! He does not want you to fail. He wants you to succeed! In fact, he promised to never put more on you than you can handle. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will make the way of escape, that you might be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV).

Understand that though you might think your temptation is unbearable, it is not more than you can bear! That statement is so profound that I must restate it so that it gets into your spirit and mind. Though you might think your temptation is unbearable, it is not more than you can bear! Satan loves to make us believe that our temptation is more than we can handle. When he is able to make us believe this, he knows that our sinning is inevitable. Satan knows that if we see our temptation as unbearable, it will not be long before we believe that our problem is greater than God! This is exactly the motive and plan of the Devil! This plan is very evident in the world of pornography and sexual perversion.

Let us be honest with ourselves: the only way that something can entice us or tempt us is if something, somewhere inside us, enjoys or gains pleasure from what is being offered. For instance, I really enjoy cherry pie. It is my absolute favorite! There are times when I start weight training for specific events that cause me to have to change my diet. This would include my sugar and carbohydrate intake. In most of my training programs, I have to cut out sweets altogether. There are friends of mine who know that cherry pie is my favorite. Suppose I was on one of my diet restrictions for training and one of my friends came by my house with a hot, freshly baked, cherry pie! The moment I see it, I would desire it. My friend may offer me a slice of it. In and of myself, I want to take it, but I can't take it. Why? Because I am on a disciplined diet and I cannot afford to veer away from it. So I decline to take the slice of cherry pie. My friend then carefully cuts a huge slice and places it on a plate. I can see the rich, red, cherry filling stuffed inside baked, golden brown crust! My friend cuts a small piece from the slice. He puts the small chunk in his mouth. I can hear the golden crust melting on top of rich, red cherries in his mouth. He closes his eyes and savors the taste, all while I am watching. Everything inside me wants this pie! I am tempted! My friend then waves the plate in front of me as if to lure me in. I can smell the perfectly baked, golden crust covering ruby-red cherry filling! I am now enticed by the strong desire inside me to have the pie, even though I know I should not. In fact, the idea that I should not have it thrills me the more. However, what is not on the forefront of my mind is that the pie will slow me down for the event and destroy my routine that I have worked so hard to perfect. This is how Satan uses us against us!

Notice that the descriptive words that I used are in italics. Well, this is what the Enemy does. He takes what appears to be good for you and blows it up. Satan takes all of the temporary pleasures of sin and places them boldly in front of the consequences so that you do not see them, at least initially. However, for this to work Satan has to have something to work with. He needs to know what your iniquity is! He needs to know and understand how to take your iniquity and make it become alive as sin. To do this, Satan studies you and I! He has assigned demons and devils to us, and he is well schooled on what can possibly cause our iniquity to become sin. Pornography and sexual perversion are no different. These conditions all stem from the iniquity in us and the demons assigned to us to bring that iniquity alive as sin.

Flesh Is the Avenue to Iniquity

Satan knows that if he is to get us to sin, he will need to fuel our iniquity. The fuel that ignites iniquity to sin is our flesh. Many people believe that our flesh is just mere skin and muscle tissue, but there is ambiguity to the meaning of flesh. Yes, flesh is the skin, fat, and muscle tissue that covers our internal organs, but it means something else. Flesh is also a sinful mind-set. Another word for flesh is carnal. The first man God created genetically passed onto us this mind-set. That man was Adam. Once Adam disobeyed God, his mind-set became sinful. It became Adam's nature and all of his descendants' nature to sin. No one had to teach you and me how to sin, because to sin is a natural part of us. It was passed down genetically and we were born with this mind-set. Satan knows this very well, because it was he who triggered the mind-set of disobedience when he deceived Eve who deceived Adam.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

Then the serpent said to the woman, "You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:1-6 NKJV

Can you see how deceptive the Devil can be? He deceived Eve into to disobeying the commandment given to her by Adam, which in turn was given to him by God. Satan dealt with Eve's mind-set, which originally knew only kingdom principles, and planted a seed of confusion. When confusion is implemented in the mind-set of an individual, that individual will question what he or she should already know is truth. Notice how Satan implemented confusion in Eve's mind. "And he said to the woman,

'Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?'" From the beginning of his conversation with Eve, he asked this question, which built a foundation to discredit what God had commanded of Adam and Eve. Of course, he knew exactly how Eve would respond to the question. "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; But the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.''"

When Eve responded to the question that Satan asked her, she unknowingly opened the door for Satan to confuse her about the truth that she already knew. Now that the door was open, Satan could implement confusion through injecting truth tainted with a lie. "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You shall not die [a lie]. For God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened [truth], and you will be like God, knowing good and evil [truth].'"

Satan told Eve that she would not die if she ate of the forbidden fruit. This was a lie! The second that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they became spiritually separated from God because of disobedience. (See Genesis 3:23-24.) This is spiritual death! (See Romans 6:23.) Not only would they die spiritually, they would eventually die naturally, returning to the dust from whence they came. (See Genesis 3:19.) Adam' and Eve's minds became carnal or fleshly; hence they were prone to be disobedient to God's commandments. Satan's deceit downplayed all the ways that death could occur. He deceived Eve into believing that the only death being referred to is natural death. You see how cunning and deceitful Satan is? He even used some truth to accomplish this confusion in Eve's mind. "For God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Satan told her a statement that was very true. Upon eating the fruit, their eyes would be opened in that they would know good and evil like God. However, Satan did not tell her the consequences of choosing evil once Adam and Eve had knowledge of it. God knew the danger of, which is why he only allowed Adam and Eve to comprehend good. Much like he does today, Satan made good look evil and convinced Eve that God was keeping secret knowledge from Adam and herself. He convinced her that her godlike knowledge and wisdom would come alive once she ate the fruit. That knowledge and that insight attracted Eve. I can imagine that it caused her to think If I know the things that God knows, I will no longer need God. In fact, she probably reasoned that she would be like God. That is the very same sin—pride—that cost Satan his position in heaven! So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and that the food would make her wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

There is one other thing that Eve did not consider before desiring to know good and evil. Eve did not consider that she could choose to do either good or evil. Before partaking of the fruit, she only comprehended that which was good so she could only do good. However, after she partook of the forbidden fruit, she could choose evil as well, because now she could comprehend evil. And guess what. Immediately after she ate the fruit, her first choice of actions were evil! She also gave it to her husband, and he ate.

How did Eve convince Adam to eat the forbidden fruit? After all, God gave Adam the commandment not to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. I am certain she did not just walk over to Adam with the forbidden fruit in hand and say, "Here, try some of this!" I believe that Eve took Adam through the same exact steps of deceit that Satan had taken her through. You see, now that Eve comprehended evil, she immediately put those actions to work and deceived Adam. Their fate was sealed, and their minds were made carnal.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Deliverance Matters by Maurice Harmon. Copyright © 2014 Maurice Harmon. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Trafford
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1490743103
• ISBN 13: 9781490743103
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 130