“What can we do to Keep from Falling?”

We will stumble, it will happen; after all, we live in this flesh that opposes the Spirit of God within us^[1] and, a flesh that fights against our very souls.^[2] However, the point of this article is that God has provided us with tools and wisdom to keep us from stumbling, and to experience victories and growth. Even as the struggle is real, we should never give up and turn our back on the power of God to change us and deliver us. What then can we do to keep from falling? I believe that the following 7 fundamentals are the answer:

1. Prayer
2. Deliverance Sessions
3. Learning Sound Doctrine
4. The Free Flow of the Gifts, the Ministries, and the Activities of the Holy Ghost
5. True Fellowship with God’s People
6. A Prophetic Vision for our Lives
7. Pastoral Care

Prayer

You can’t delegate your relationship with God to your pastor, your parents, your friends, or your spouses. It is good to pray with other folks, but here we are talking about a place where there is only you and God. We can’t make it without that relationship. Matthew 26:41 tells us, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (NIV) All of us have a flesh fighting within us; prayer is our first weapon against temptations. Without prayer, we will fall into temptation all the time. Everything else will be a waste of time if you don’t resolve the issue of your lack of relationship with God. 

Deliverance Sessions

Folks can argue if a believer could be demon possessed. I don’t believe a believer can be demon possessed because that implies a total surrender to an agenda of evil. As believers, we have a struggle inside of us that makes it impossible for us to be sold out to evil. However, without a doubt, there are areas where demons have taken possession and have become strongholds. For example, pornography is a one-billion-dollar a year industry.^[3] The issue is that many men of God are also involved in it; about 77 percent of us to be exact.^[4] So what is the problem, are these men not born again; maybe some of them are not; but some are and still struggle or, maybe they gave up. Some demons made residence in an area of their soul. Those demons must be addressed. In Luke 9:1 Jesus tells us,

When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. (NIV)

The ministry of deliverance cannot be ignored. Driving out demons should be a normal thing amongst us, but we run from it. No wonder many folks in our churches are still struggling with the same stuff after all these years.

Learning Sound Doctrine

There is a cleansing that takes place when we are in an environment where we are learning sound doctrine; in other words when we are learning how to live; that is what Titus 2 is all about; that’s what the New Testament is all about; teaching us how to live a Godly life. In Ephesians 5:26 Paul is speaking about what the husband’s responsibilities towards the wife, and he states, “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,” (NIV) It points out the power of the Word to cleanse us. Jesus confirms this point further as he told his disciples, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” John 15:3 (NIV) We must stay in the Word: Read it, study it, and apply it as our lives depend on it because they do. If we don’t, is a matter of time before we become victims of Doctrines of Demos (I Timothy 4:1)

The Free Flow of the Gifts, the Ministries, and the Activities of the Holy Ghost

First Corinthians 12:4-6 tells us, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.” (ESV) The gifts of the Holy Ghost were given to us for the edification of the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12) But the Holy Ghost also provides ministry in other words, opportunities to serve. Lastly, the Holy Ghost also blesses us with activities, this means energy to do what we are called to do. The free flow of the Holy Ghost is essential. I know that men sometimes like to control and that we will, without a doubt miss or misinterpret things, but we must grow on how to flow with the Holy Ghost for the good of the church. Do not exchange flowing with the Holy Ghost for man-made and powerless agendas. They have proven that they can’t deliver anybody; they just become a form of Godliness and, we know that a form of Godliness denies the power of God to change us (2 Tim. 3:5)

True Fellowship with God’s People

Oh, how much we are lacking true fellowship! We have exchanged fellowship for a service. Hebrews 10:25 tells us, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (KJV) Beloved, the bad days are coming; we must remain in fellowship. The word “Assembling” here is the Greek word episunagōgḗ; meaning: “To gather together. The act of gathering or assembling together (2 Thess. 2:1 [cf. 1 Thess 4:17]). Heb. 10:25 does not merely denote the assembling for corporate worship as a solitary or occasional act, but as customary conduct.”^[5] See, this is not just a service, it should be the norm for God’s people to come together. John tells us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” You see a direct connection between fellowship and being purified of our sins. The word fellowship here is the Greek word koinōnía; meaning “To share in. Fellowship with participation.”^[6] Again, the Bible is not talking about a church service as we know it today, this is a family who shares each other’s lives; folks who participate; who ask questions, who debate, who challenge each other, who confess their sins to one another, etc. There is no deliverance without the family of God; there is no deliverance on your own; if you think so, you are allowing the devil to fool you.

A Prophetic Vision for our Lives

Proverbs 29:18 says all that needs to be said about this fundamental of deliverance, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint but blessed is he who keeps the law.” If. we don’t know where we are going, we are all over the place without direction; worse off, there is no restraint. We lose our way; we lose our purpose without a vision from God.

Pastoral Care

Some pastors think they can pastor from the pulpit, but that can’t be further from the truth. The pulpit is getting in the way of folks getting truly down to business concerning their need for deliverance. It has placed God’s people as spectators. They can’t be in church Sunday after Sunday; punch the clock and never deal with their mess. The work of a pastor is way deeper than that; it starts in a small group that promotes and facilitates participation. Participation allows the pastor to see what is in folks’ minds. From that small group, it goes into a one-on-one with that pastor to further deal with the issues of your soul. Hebrews 13:17 tells us, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (ESV) Who are our leaders? In the local church is the Body of elders. Our main job is to watch over folks’ souls. Out of our souls flows our way of thinking, our decision-making, and our emotions. If we do not have the mind of Christ, we will make bad decisions and, if we make bad decisions, they will directly affect our emotions. It becomes either a vicious circle or is stopped in pastoral care.

Beloved, as you can see, is not an easy fix, but God has provided us with divine tools to overcome whatever it is that we are facing. 

^[1] For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Galatians 5:17 (NIV)

^[2] Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. I Peter 2:11 (ESV)

^[3] https://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/

^[4] https://www.restoringheartscounseling.com/2020/12/21/is-porn-addiction-a-problem-in-your-church/

^[5] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

^[6] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).