EXPOSING JEZEBEL - part 6

"He will deliver one who is not innocent, and he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands"  (Job 22:30)

 
 

There is a great difference in repenting for a sin and in actually pulling down the stronghold within us that produced the sin in the first place.  The first involves faith in the cross of Christ;  the second demands we embrace crucifixion ourselves.  We are to destroy the defiling, oppressive system of thinking which through the years, has been built into our nature.  This is why the Word say's we must be re-newed in "the spirit of (my) mind"  (Eph. 4:23).

 

I for one was taught the humility through being forced to live with a Mentally Challenged adult for the past eight years.  I had to learn to repent often and realize that Jezebel had created a stronghold in my mind and in order to expose her and re-new my mind, I had to understand that the unkind, sometimes daily, verbal attacks toward me were an attempt to pull me out of the Spirit and to raise Jezebel within me once again.  God kept me in this situation until I finally learned this concept.  I went around and around that promised land until finally now God has allowed me to enter.  It was a long road but a journey that I do not regret to learn what I have and to be able to bring to the surface these cunning way's and deceptions of Jezebel.  If the enemy cannot attack you directly, he will seek to bring you into sin, thereby positioning you under the judgments of God.  I personally went through a period of great discouragement and self-doubt.  I learned much about the sin of presumption.  I saw that when men assume God will not judge them , it is only a matter of time before the tempter comes to destroy them.

 

In regard to our war against Jezebel, we cannot be successful in the heavenly war if we are not victorious in the battlefield of our minds.  There is only one realm of final victory against the enemy:  Christ likeness.

 

Jesus is  "He who searches the minds and hearts"  (Rev. 2:23).  Our victory in every battle begins here, in our  "minds and hearts."  Consequently, we cannot tolerate Jezebelian thinking in any area.  Our concept of church must expand beyond buildings into a way of life we practice everywhere.  When we turn on television for instance,  to an immoral program, we are still in church, tolerating the spirit of Jezebel.

If a husband is afraid of his strong willed wife or unable to serve as the head of his household, although he is not in the worship building, he is still in church tolerating Jezebel.  It is also in the routine things of daily living where the strongholds of Jezebel must be confronted and destroyed, not just in the church building.

 

As I demonstrated in my situation earlier it takes an Ahab to tolerate a Jezebel.  Ahab works with Jezebel.  Ahab floods the soul of a man with weakness and fear.  Ahab's nature is one who gives his authority to Jezebel.  To win against Jezebel, one must conquer the nature of Ahab.  The man who is married to a domineering wife will exhibit one of two responses:  He will either be fearful in other relationships in his life or he will tend to resent women in general.  (When my husband left, he cursed God and to this day he is resentful towards women.)  If he is an employer, he will be overly harsh and control-oriented toward females, quick to put them in their place.  This is a manifestation of his resentment toward his wife.  The essence of Ahab's nature is to have a title, "husband," and a position, "head," but never truly exercise spiritual authority.  When Ahab was king, Jezebel ruled.  The man who cannot govern his household in godly, protective authority will not exercise his spiritual authority elsewhere.  Such a man needs to repent of his fears and firmly, with gentleness, set his home in order.  Now, authority is simply delegated responsibility.  The emphasis is not on being the boss, but being responsible.  No man will have peace in his home if he views authority as simply the domination of his wife.  God's will is to have couples making decisions together, each drawing upon the other, enjoying themselves as friends in open and loving communion.

 

God's answer to dealing with Jezebel is not to exchange one form of oppression (Jezebel's), for another (the man's).  God's objective is to replace Jezebel's concept of security with the security a woman receives when she is tenderly loved by her husband.  Thus, the man wins the war against Jezebel by becoming Christ like

 

The woman overcomes the haughtiness of Jezebel by seeking the meekness of Christ.  She pursues a "gentle and quiet spirit"  (1Peter 2:23-3:4), which is natural to Christ likeness.  The woman must see God's wisdom in the divine order of the family and honor her husband as her head.  If she is unmarried, she should be submitted to the order God has established in her church as unto the Lord.  Her humility and peace in serving others is a sign of destruction to the nature of Jezebel (Philippians 1:28).  The woman conquers the sensual side of Jezebel by renouncing her feminine charms, which are "deceitful" Prov. 31:30), and her  "many persuasions"  (Prov. 7:21), which are enticing.  She refuses the sensual look of the eyes and seductive softening of the voice.  If she is married, her beauty is given to her husband.  If she is single, she adorns her inner person with the spiritual qualities of the fruit of the Spirit, knowing that if she compromises her standards with God, she will inevitably find a man who will compromise his standards with her.  The true man God has for her is a godly man in search of a virtuous woman.  Her victory begins with prayer, but it is consummated by transformation.

 

What we become in Christ, as His people, must be the exact opposite of the spirit of Jezebel.  Is she rebellious?  We must become submissive.  Is she proud and haughty?  We must become meek and lowly of heart.  Is she a control demon?  We must be gentle and willing to yield.  Does Jezebel send forth witchcraft and immorality, fear, and discouragement?  We must live a crucified life in the purity of Christ, full of love and faith for our vision.  It is WHO Christ becomes in us that establishes our victory against the spirit of Jezebel.

 

 

Part 6 ends my study of Jezebel.  I pray that all have been enlightened and made so very alert to the wiles of the evil one.  Any who struggle with this one please lay yourself at the feet of Jesus and He will not forsake you.  He will make you strong and give you courage like you have never experienced before in Jesus name.  God Bless and keep you all !!