Ousting The Spirit of Heaviness~Isaiah 61:3

The Great Matt Geib with you (0:30) once again on a sunny, bright day in the Pacific Northwest, winding down the end of July and (0:37) going toward the home stretch of the end of summer. Can you believe it? And today I wanted (0:44) to get back to you. It's been a long time.I think we're going to have to come in here (0:50) and study this more frequently, but I started to read at the very beginning of June, end (0:57) of May, How to Identify and Defeat 16 Evil Spirits That Want to Destroy You. The name (1:06) of the book is Power and Authority Over Darkness by Angela Greenig. She's a deliverance minister (1:13) that's traveled the world, been around, oh, 40 years or more, as long as I have, maybe (1:19) longer.And she's written a powerful book on the workings of the enemy. And I started (1:27) to read it. I think this is such an important topic, I began to say when we started this, (1:33) because of what's going on in our world right now.It says in the Bible that even if it (1:38) were possible, the elect could be deceived. And I think it's important to know the forces (1:44) that may come against us, especially in this last age. I believe we're in the last age.(1:50) So I had started to read this, and there are 16 spirits that she identifies. That's the (1:57) meat of the book. There's more to the book, but I thought this was the important part (2:01) because I've read this book.And I only got through the three spirits, the first three (2:06) spirits she identifies, lying spirit, spirit of bondage, and the spirit of fear. She wrote (2:13) this book in 2019, so it's still really relative. And these are very good things to be aware (2:21) of when we're talking about demonic spirits and strongholds.And I believe Christians can (2:26) be oppressed and harassed by evil spirits, and this will help you. (2:33) So let's get to the next one. This is going to take some time because she really devotes (2:38) a lot to each of these topics.The spirit of heaviness, and provide for those who grieve (2:45) in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of (2:52) mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks (2:58) of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. Isaiah 61.3. We're (3:06) talking of 16 spirits.This is spirit four, the spirit of heaviness. Manifestations, depression, (3:15) the blues, psychological disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking (3:23) and concentrating, feelings of dejection, loneliness, the feeling of being without company, discouragement, (3:31) to deprive of courage or confidence, hopelessness, not having any desire accompanied by expectation (3:40) of fulfillment, grief, emotional distress caused by or as if by bereavement, gluttony, one (3:49) that eats to excess, anorexia, loss of appetite, especially when prolonged, bulimia, I'm not (4:00) sure how to say that, to overeat, then induce vomiting, obsessive, compulsive, unreasonable (4:08) fears leading to repetitive behaviors, disconnected thoughts, incoherent, unclear, lack of a sound (4:18) mind, inability to think, reason, or understand, delusions, deluding or being deluded, a persistent (4:26) false psychotic belief, illusions, mistaken identities or ideas, misconceptions, misleading (4:35) visual images, hallucinations, abandonment, given up on completely, forsaken, deserted, (4:43) rejected, disconnected, discounted, or considered as useless or unsatisfactory. These are all (4:53) manifestations of the spirit of heaviness.Rejection, discounted, considered as useless (4:58) or unsatisfactory, suicidal, desire to kill oneself purposely, to commit or attempt suicide, (5:05) low self-esteem, to set a low value on self, does not respect, admire, or revere, (5:15) melancholia, a mental disorder marked by extreme depression, often with delusions, (5:22) sadness, and gloominess, dejection, lowness of spirit, downcast, pessimism, an indication to (5:31) take the least favorable view as of any event, or to expect the worse, hypochondria, depression of (5:38) the mind, often centered on imaginary physical ailments, brokenhearted, overcome by grief or (5:45) despair, self-tormenting, to severe suffering of body or the mind, voiceless woes, having no voice, (5:55) not pronounced with voice. All of the manifestations of the spirit of heaviness (6:00) speak for themselves. Look closely at the definitions I've mentioned and keep your (6:06) mind girded with the helmet of salvation, not the thorns of torment.Job 3.26 says, (6:14) I have no peace, no quietness, I have no rest but only turmoil. In Psalm 69.20 we read, (6:22) Reproach has broken my heart, and I'm full of heaviness. I looked for someone to take pity, (6:27) but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.This teaching is for you if you're (6:33) going through a season when the spirit of heaviness has been trying to steal all that (6:39) the Lord has given you. Yes, there are seasons in our lives when we feel lonely. As I write this, (6:44) I look at the holidays and how many people are so lonely, hurting, and want to die.I know there (6:50) are many lonely people out there. Please be mindful that everyone experiences times when we (6:56) grieve or are sad because of the loss of a loved one or a dear friend. When we see someone going (7:02) through hard times, we must attend to one another more than ever.My friend lost her (7:08) husband to cancer a few years ago. She is so strong in the Lord that many people thought she (7:14) was fine. Therefore, not a lot of phone calls or people were checking in on her and her family.(7:21) People did not realize that she was grieving so deeply inside. She was crying and scared, (7:26) lost, confused, angry. I tell you this because there are different processes we must go through (7:34) in our lives, and it's okay to grieve and to feel these emotions.(7:38) There's another sister in Christ I know who is still in her death clothes to this day. (7:43) It was six or seven years ago when her husband died, but she is still immobilized, crippled. (7:49) Most days she cannot get out of bed.She is frightened and feels alone. (7:53) The difference between these two women is not all about faith but where we are spiritually. (7:59) It is also about those areas that the Lord has healed and the areas that He's still working on.(8:05) Every situation is different. Sometimes it takes a year or more to heal. Others may take a lifetime.(8:14) In the first situation, my friend allowed the Lord to bring healing (8:18) and restoration to her heart and life in an everyday process. (8:23) Unfortunately, the second sister, because of being so dependent on her husband for everything, (8:28) felt like she lost her identity. Since her identity was invested in her husband when he died, (8:34) she felt like she died right along with him.Many people do not know how to handle depression. (8:41) They turn solely to the medical field or self-medicating, (8:45) often through destructive means. Some are getting wrapped up (8:49) in it so tightly that they often need psychiatric help, which can lead to many (8:55) medications.These medications often make people feel worse than they did at the start. (9:01) The best medicine is Jesus. Sure, it's easier said than done, but we have to start somewhere, (9:07) and there's no better addiction in this world than to be addicted to the Heavenly Father.(9:13) Depression is brutal, a hard habit to break, and yes, it is a habit. Some may not think so, (9:22) but a habit is something we do daily, even if we don't realize it. It is by far one of the hardest, (9:28) if not the hardest habit to break, because we find outlets to medicate our depression.(9:34) Alcoholics use drinking as a mechanism to cope. Smokers use that to clear their head. (9:40) Many use food to ease their depression, which then turns into a form of gluttony.(9:49) Food can turn a person from mad, sad, or melancholy into a state of mind which is euphoric. (9:55) How long does it last? Maybe 30 minutes, an hour or two at the most. We eventually fall back into (10:01) reality and to our vices.Consumption is what most do to battle depression, yet it is so very (10:09) destructive. The depression that our son went through involved years of medications, being (10:14) hospitalized for months on end, and this went on for years. It is so scary as a parent.Every place (10:21) he went for help, he was told that his problem was bipolar disorder, which affects 5.7 million (10:28) adults, or about 2.6% of the United States population 18 and older, according to the (10:34) National Institute of Mental Health, and this disorder is on the increase. When bipolar was (10:42) mentioned, we couldn't believe it. After all, he was in a wrestling competition at school, (10:48) and he had been doing amazingly well, but a door opened and I saw it.Like Alice in Wonderland, (10:54) he was in the looking glass and spiraling down the rabbit hole. As his parents, we were...