"The Consequences of Fatherlessness" Part 2

Ignoring Consequences

Another devastating effect of fatherlessness is the ignorance of the consequences of an individual’s action.  A previous neighbor had a nephew who attended the celebratory parade of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl victory against the San Francisco 49ers.  The young man, however, was not a Ravens fan.  He was a 49ers fan.  As an act of defiance, he chose to show his support for his team by wearing their jersey during the parade.  Unfortunately, as a result, Ravens fans took offense to him wearing the 49ers’ jersey and responded with inappropriate remarks.  The young man responded in the same manner which resulted in a physical altercation.  The altercation, ultimately, led to this young man being killed during an event that should have been celebratory.  On the surface, it may appear that he was simply tragically targeted for his right to choose to support the team of his choice.  However, one of a father’s duties is to teach his children to think before they act.  He is responsible for ensuring that they understand that some actions may have serious consequences.  When it comes to sports teams, many fans have been known to behave in inappropriate ways.  Even though everyone has the right to choose the team of their liking, in instances like this you have to use wisdom and recognize that you may be soliciting unwanted behavior.  Knowing that people have the propensity for inappropriate responses, you have to understand the consequences your actions may produce.  Unfortunately, instances such as this tragic murder prove that the absence of a father to provide discipline and teach their children about consequences has contributed to the demise of our society.  

Sadly, we have become a nation of people who refuse to accept responsibility for our actions.  Many people lose their lives because they do not stop and consider the consequences before they act.  Others are serving lengthy jail sentences because by the time they realized that their actions could produce major consequences; they were standing before a judge.  The discipline of the natural father prepares you for the discipline of God, our heavenly Father.  Many in the Church are out of order because they do not understand that God is a God of order.  He does not approve of irresponsible behavior, and He does not accept a life of sin accompanying the work that we say we are doing for Him.  

While everyone sins, there is a difference between acts of sin and a life of sin.  David committed acts of sin.  When it was brought to his attention, he immediately repented of his actions.  Solomon lived a life of sin after he chose to marry women from cultures that God instructed His people to avoid.  As a result of disobeying God, Solomon built altars for the false gods of his wives.  Many people will use the “everyone sins” response as a defense when confronted about their sin.  While that statement is true, when a person commits acts of sin they will feel remorse and approach God humbly with a mind to repent.  However, when a person lives a life of sin they continue to commit sin while making excuses for it.  We have been taught that we are now under grace and many people believe that grace gives us a pass to sin and live as we choose without being accountable for our actions.  Grace does not give us a pass to sin, it was established so that we have the ability to continue a relationship with God when we error as a result of being flawed individuals.  However, God is NOT ok with sin and He HATES it!  He expects for His children to become mature sons and daughters who OBEY His word.

"The Consequences of Fatherlessness" Part 1

 Fatherlessness directly affects how children grow into adults and how those adults interact in society.  There are 3 key consequences that can result from the lack of an interactive father within the home.  These inadequacies are developed in people as children and they are carried well into adulthood.  The absence of a father in the home or the lack of proper interaction from a father who is present in the home leads to:  a lack of respect for authority, ignorance of the concept of consequences of one’s action, and a lack of identity.

No Respect for Authority

The lack of respect for authority is an effect of the lack of a father’s interaction.  A father is supposed to provide discipline for his children.  The absence of a father’s discipline eliminates or diminishes the element of respect towards authority within a person.  In many cases, people associate disrespect for authority only with criminal behavior.  However, criminal activity is only one aspect of resentment for authority.  If an individual has issues with following instructions from employers, pastors, and others who are in positions of authority, this qualifies as a lack of respect for authority.  Some will even develop an attitude of antipathy against these leaders.  One common comment that has been made by many is, “I’m a man like him.”  Although everyone has a choice in who will hold some of the positions of authority in their lives, people who have problems with authority will respond negatively toward the figure of authority that they have chosen for various situations.  People choose their place of employment.  However, many believe that they can alter or reject rules that have been established by the leadership of that particular job.  People choose a church yet will contend with the pastor of the church concerning the instructions or rules that have been put in place.  In many cases, people do not even realize that they are being rebellious.  They have become so accustomed to their resentment toward authority that they will not obey even the simplest of instructions.  This is simply because, even as adults, people will display delinquent behavior which eventually becomes rebellion.  

God has established the role and presence of a mother and a father in the lives of children.  Any modification of this arrangement will ALWAYS produce negative effects.  Even in the animal kingdom, animals that are not solitary animals will suffer negative effects with the removal of fathers.  Young male elephants at a national park in South Africa began exhibiting delinquent behavior by killing rhinos that were at the national park.  The elephants were left fatherless by poachers who hunted the adults for their tusks.  The only thing that the park rangers had to do to cause the young males to deviate from their destructive behavior was to transport adult males to that location.  The presence and leadership of the adult males immediately brought the young males in line.  Our present society believes that fathers can be replaced or eliminated without consequence.  That fallacy is disproved on a daily basis.  Gangs are comprised of a lot of young men and young women who come from homes where the father is missing or inactive.  Every plan that strays from God’s original plan leads to destruction.  

Satanic Strongholds- "Pharmakeia"

Beware

The majority of the devil’s strongholds are not tangible.  However, these strongholds are designed to have an indelible mental effect on us.  But his most dangerous stronghold is pharmakeia.  Pharmakeia is the Greek word for pharmacy which involves practicing and making medication, spell giving potions, or elixirs believed to have transforming powers.  It is also translated as witchcraft or sorcery. This stronghold is so dangerous because even if a person has progressed to the place of submitting themselves to God, it can still create a breach between where God desires the person to be and the current position that the devil may have him or her in.  

Medication & Its Effects

Every medication on the market has been genetically engineered to have negative effects on us.  These effects are known as side effects.  We have been trained to expect and accept side effects to come with medications.  Some side effects include damage to internal organs.  Some include illness. Others include hallucinations and other mind altering symptoms.  Even strong-minded individuals are susceptible to the effects of medication.  Many times, the stronger the person’s mind, the more adverse the effects can be.  The body begins to fight against the foreign substance and as a result, the assault against the body takes its toll on the body.  There is a misconception in our society that our health is tied into whatever medication is on the market. Medications are available to aid sleeping, to stay awake, to thin your blood, and to increase or decrease testosterone.  Medication in layman’s terms is drugs.  Drugs can be broken down into two categories:  legal and illegal.  The side effects of both legal and illegal drugs are very similar.  The difference between legal and illegal drugs is that doctors prescribe legal drugs which have been regulated and endorsed by the government while illegal drugs have been publicly condemned by the government.   

It is not by accident that drugs have the type of negative influence on us that they do.  They are intended to impair our thought processes and alter our judgment.  The devil wants our minds clouded so that we will experience the opposite of what God wants us to experience:  a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  In the presence of a sound mind, we can comprehend the concept of being endowed with love and power.  In the absence of a sound mind, we will become double minded and waver between what the Bible says and the opinion of the world.  Then we will lack the ability to accept the wisdom of God, the judgment of God, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 but even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.  Some cannot receive the Word of God because their mind has not been renewed.  Others cannot receive the Word of God because foreign substances taken into the body either orally or intravenously have captivated their minds, preventing them from being able to receive and hold on to the truth of the Word. 

The Devil’s Deception Tool

The devil is very familiar with our physical and mental design.  He understands how our bodies respond to certain stimuli and he understands how various substances and actions affect our bodies and minds.  Deception is a tool that he uses frequently and effectively.  We reject illegal drugs because they are illegal and they have such a negative effect on us.  However, we accept legal drugs because they are legal, even though they have the same negative effects on us.  People strive to avoid illegal drugs while simultaneously being led into addiction of legal drugs.  Some legal drugs are so deadly that they require stepping down to a lower dosage before completely discontinuing their use. Some fruit cannot even be eaten while taking certain drugs.  That is how deception works.  It offers an apparent safe solution to counter an adverse situation.  However, the solution actually turns out to be a deadly trap.  In ancient times, the use of drugs was implemented by witches and sorcerers to manipulate the thinking and actions of people.  Today, the use of drugs is encouraged for the sake of improving health issues.  This does not mean, however, that if taking drugs for a health related issue that one can simply discontinue the use of these drugs without being responsible.  If taking medication to regulate blood pressure, one needs to first maintain a healthy diet and implement exercise into daily activities in order to bring health issues under control BEFORE deciding to discontinue drug use.  In addition, it is important to get the approval of a medical doctor.

Some of the drugs that we take can produce some unbelievable effects.  Take birth control pills for an example, studies have shown that there have been cases of modified development of sexual organs in infants.  This occurs in about 3 out of 1000 cases of women who reported taking oral contraceptives shortly before or after conception.  Birth control pills have also been linked to the masculinization of female infants.   

It has now become common practice for children to be medicated.  They are now medicated for displaying the same attributes that children have displayed for millenniums. Four common medications administered to children are Adderall, Dexedrine, Ritalin, and Strattera. These medications have side effects that produce depression, mood disorders, suicidal ideation, and hallucinations.  One important thing to understand about medications that have suicidal side effects is that the effects generally don’t make suicide appear to be suicide.  The medication may be hallucinogenic and encourage you to do things that may be detrimental to your safety.  Some examples include:  jumping from a bridge or building because the ocean is inviting you to come on in.  You may be prodded to jump from a balcony because the grass below is plush and inviting.  You may be encouraged to swallow your entire bottle of pills so that no one will steal them.  Or you may experience depression, not normal depression.  It is a heightened form of depression triggered by something that has been concocted to control and destroy you. In 2004, suicide was the third largest killer of people ages 10-24.  When the FDA began requiring “black box” warnings on commonly prescribed antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs, amazingly, there was a 22% decrease in pediatric prescription. These drugs are not designed for our benefit but for our destruction. Jesus said that the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Satanic Strongholds- "Low Self-Esteem"

What is Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem is an individual’s emotional evaluation of their self-worth.   Psychologist Albert Ellis was extremely critical of the concept of self-esteem.   He believed that the act of rating and attaching a specific value to people was irrational and unethical.  The philosophy of self-esteem, according to Albert, was unrealistic and proved to be self- and socially destructive.  In his opinion, the healthier alternative to self-esteem is unconditional self-acceptance and unconditional other acceptance.  The unconditional acceptance of others is an important attribute to possess.

Low Self-Esteem

In the case of low self-esteem, a person has negatively evaluated themselves as being incompetent. There are many traits that identify the presence of low self-esteem: envy, extreme self-criticism, fear of mistakes, pessimism, hypersensitivity to criticism, and feelings of being attacked.  Having low self-esteem will cause people to seek outside sources in order to boost self-worth or validation. The search for validation will place many people on a dangerously destructive path or cause them to become vulnerable candidates to be taken advantage of.

Two cognitive biases support low self-esteem:  biased perception and biased interpretation.  When people have a poor perception of themselves, they view each error that they make as a major violation.  This will also increase their negative self-image.  Self-criticism in these cases is extreme.  Low self-esteem has the propensity to cause people to become perfectionists because they have little or no tolerance for imperfection within themselves.  Mistakes are viewed as totally unacceptable.  As a result of negative experiences which may have occurred during the early years of their life, many people who suffer from low self-esteem are extremely pessimistic.  The negative episodes in their lives have molded their minds to the extent that even when they come in contact with positive people or experience positive events, they still exhibit a suspicious attitude or expect a negative outcome.  Many times, they are unaware of this flaw because it has become a defense mechanism to aid them in managing or avoiding disappointment.  One of the most dangerous traits of low self-esteem and the biggest liability is a hypersensitivity to criticism which causes them to resent others because they believe that they are under attack.  Sometimes this will cause them to go into denial concerning their self-esteem issues and seek to overcompensate even more.  The devil uses the very thing that caused him to be evicted from heaven to discourage people from seeking help and being delivered: PRIDE.  People will believe that they are the only one struggling in a particular area.  They have either forgotten or are unaware that the Bible instructs us to encourage one another and bear one another’s burdens.  When we cease to be self-seeking, we will no longer be overcome by feelings of low self-esteem.  

The Solution

God’s answer and solution to the self-esteem issue is self-denial and to esteem others above yourself.  God has repeatedly given us the validation that is essential for us to live healthy righteous lives.  The Bible assures us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  We also understand that there is no new thing under the sun.  That means that there isn’t anything going on in our lives that has not been experienced by someone else at some point in history.  As human beings, we are all flawed and we each have inadequacies.  When we begin to understand how unique God has made each of us, we will see that we do not have to achieve earthly success or perform some great act in order to obtain some form of self-worth.  When we learn to humble ourselves and deny ourselves, we will attain the necessary confidence to be productive in the kingdom of God.  We will then become who God desires us to be.

Psalm 139:14  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

Psalm 8:4-5 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.