Breakthrough Equipping Spiritual Training, B.E.S.T.

Week 10: Victim or Author

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16 NASB)

One of the most important heart boundaries that a Believer can deal with is the issue of authority and responsibility.  The opposite of authority and responsibility is the heart attitude of being a victim. 

The earliest example of a victim heart condition is in the Book of Genesis.  In Chapter 3, we have the famous response to sin:

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.""  Gen 3:7-13 (NKJV)

Notice the progression:

1.     They have their eyes opened by the consequences of sin: This is the first step of being a victim. It is a change in perspective.  The Scripture tells us they knew of their nakedness and felt shame.  Sin exposes us to our weakness and makes us feel in need to covering up or hiding our heart condition from the consequences of our actions.  Failure moves from being an event in our lives to an identity.  We have done something “wrong” and our feelings in the heart make us ashamed and often we believe it’s because we have something wrong with us that needs to be covered up with whatever “fig leaves” we can find.

a.     The “fig leaves” are the symbol of self-protection. They represent to me, the mindset that sets us up to be victims in our own destiny.

b.     We choose to be our own salvation, our own defense and because we know that our fixes are imperfect and fruitless we begin to be a victim.

c.     Notice it was the “fig tree” that Jesus chose to curse.

d.     Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?" And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:18-22 NASB)

e.     Notice that Yeshua was “hungry”.  We aren’t going to take the time now, but at another time look at when He should have been hungry, He told His disciples, He had a food supply they knew nothing of, the Word of God. Yeshua was tempted at all points as we are.

f.      Hunger is more than a physical thing.  It represents lack.  So, we could translate this as Yeshua experienced lack.

g.     “Seeing” a fig tree He found no provision.  The fig tree is the source of the fig leaves that were the symbols of self-provision, the covering that we, as victims use for our shame and imperfections.  Yeshua then speaks to that system: “No longer shall there be any fruit from you”.  This is declaration on all of our shame based, self-derived works that arise out of the victim spirit.

h.     Then Yeshua gives the interpretation of what He has just done.  He has declared shame based works, dead!  He says by contrast, that if we have faith, or we see with eyes of faith and do not doubt.  What is doubt?  It is wavering between 2 realities.  What are the 2 realities?  One is the provision of God and the other is the fig reality. 

i.      Each “reality” a mountain, a spiritual place of authority.  The fig reality is the reality of self-effort and feeling the victim of God, of life and ultimately of our own selves. 

j.      This week I had the genetics conversation with a client of mine.  Our medical research has generated a belief in chemical imbalances as a result of family tendencies like alcoholism, sex addiction, food addiction etc.  We are training people in the fig leaf, no fruit reality.  All we are really doing is validating the nature of sin and death!  Our “science” is really just demonstrating the reality of generational sin patterns and how “real” they are in the DNA.  The Scriptures call these iniquities that are visited on subsequent generations.

k.     The victim spirit though then converts that understanding into fig leaf reality.  Drugs are prescribed to correct the “chemical imbalances”.  Anti-emotions.  But this only creates a new level of victims.  These fig leaves only cover with manmade solutions which are more sin and therefore only deaden us. 

2.     Hiding.  Why and when do we hide?  We hide out of fear.  Our fear is usually in the smallness of how we see ourselves and the threat of danger from a stronger more powerful person.  So hiding is the action of a victim, or a victim-to-be.  We go into the shadows to avoid being found out.

a.     Hiding is just physical hiding.  It is hiding our talents.  It’s the fear of rejection which is rooted in hiding. Hiding is accepting the curse!

b.     In Matthew 25, we read the parable of the talents and issue of hiding:

c.     "To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. "Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. "In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. "But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. "Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' "Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, 'Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.' "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' "And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 'And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.' "But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 'Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.' "For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:15-30 NASB)

d.     What I want to emphasize is the harshness of the Lord towards the victim spirit. Can you hear the victim: , 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 'And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours?

e.     You see when we hide who we are, stay in the background, try to blend in essentially become invisible, it runs contrary to God’s will.  He is a God of Glory not of background!

f.      Secular philosophy tries to turn God into an impersonal background force and strip Him of His identity. It tries to turn God into nature or nuclear force.  But God is personal and He is all about Glory!  Glory is as individual as you can get. 

g.     Glory is NOT about pride.  Pride is just a different fig leaf than being invisible but it is still a contrived identity usually in slavery to what it thinks other will value!  Pride is about looking good.  Glory is about what is!  God is NOT hiding who He is.  He isn’t trying to be politically correct.  He is not hiding.

3.     Yeshua told us to show forth our glory.

a.     "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16 NASB)

b.     Our light is to display who God is to the world through our good works, our visible deeds!

4.     So what is the solution? Well it isn’t blaming, being a victim.

a.     Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate

b.     The goal of the enemy is to get us focused on each other as the source of our actions. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake.  They each were victims.  Victim heart condition is the root of the fall.  It is the root of the wisdom of the fallen world.

c.     Being a blamer whether it’s in our parents, or our boss, or the pastor, the government, your kids, your spouse, or even satan, the all-powerful victimizer is to come into agreement with the fall.  It causes us to hide our light.  That mindset makes us manufacture fig leaves, cover-ups.  It puts our focus on our pain.

d.     Now I’m not saying that there are not legitimate victims of crimes and other evil actions.  There are real.  What I am saying is that there is a heart attitude that will keep us in fear and hiding.  It will quench the light that is in us.  It will cause us to live in shame and guilt. Lisa

5.     How do we turn it around?

6.     3 steps:

a.     We assume total responsibility for our attitudes, our emotions and our feelings!  This is a choice. This is all about choosing our perspective and reclaiming our authority.  We only have authority and power where we choose to be responsible.

                                               i.     Look with me at Luke 11

                                             ii.     As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. "For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. "The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. "The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. "No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. "The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. "Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. "If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays." (Luke 11:29-36 NASB)

b.     First, the sign of Jonah. Most assume it be the death and resurrection which it is but it also is a sign of wisdom. Nineveh was the heathen world power and it recognized the voice of the Lord in Jonah and repented.  The Queen of Sheba recognized the voice of Lord in Solomon and repented. She came to the light.

c.     Our eye or our perspective determines our lamp.  We need to choose to responsible for our lives.  It is wisdom.

d.     We have the privilege and responsibility to choose what we focus on

7.     Second, we need take what we learned last week about our temperament and build a success team.  This means we own our part and allow others to fulfill their temperaments and work together.  It’s time to get a vision and work together. Stop judging yourself by what you can’t seem to do well and do what you do well but allow others to become part of your life.  Let the light shine.

8.     Third, we need to practice an attitude of gratitude.

a.     Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8 NASB)

Activation:

Two key words to think and pray about:

                  -React

                  -Respond

Example of a medication: “I had a reaction to…..” versus “I responded to the medication…”

Let’s pray and ask the Lord what we have reacted to in life?  What do we perceive as having happened to us?  This is the victim or martyr spirit.  We cannot build effective teams for our destiny if we spend our lives reacting.