Good News Story
Changing Lives through Freedom Session
Let's talk about strongholds.
Strongholds are like walls. They can either protect someone from evil, or they can protect someone from good. Either way, something isn't getting through to you if you have a stronghold.
Strongholds in the Christian life can often be positive. They act as a protective barrier for our minds and hearts. Reading God's word strengths our spirit*. Meeting with other Christians connects us back to Jesus**. Helping others connects us to God***. God's strongholds fill us with the richness of His love and compassion. They help us see ourselves as His beloved children. They help us accept and understand Jesus' sacrifice for our sins.
However, as all people on earth can attest to, life is rarely simply positive. All of us, Christians included, can also be impacted by negative strongholds. Negative strongholds can take over our hearts and minds, and shield us from the love of God and the acceptance of Jesus. Negative strongholds such as self-judgement, hatred, and addictions, can prevent us from seeing ourselves as truly free in Christ.
Strongholds are like walls. They can either protect someone from evil, or they can protect someone from good. Either way, something isn't getting through to you if you have a stronghold.
Strongholds in the Christian life can often be positive. They act as a protective barrier for our minds and hearts. Reading God's word strengths our spirit*. Meeting with other Christians connects us back to Jesus**. Helping others connects us to God***. God's strongholds fill us with the richness of His love and compassion. They help us see ourselves as His beloved children. They help us accept and understand Jesus' sacrifice for our sins.
However, as all people on earth can attest to, life is rarely simply positive. All of us, Christians included, can also be impacted by negative strongholds. Negative strongholds can take over our hearts and minds, and shield us from the love of God and the acceptance of Jesus. Negative strongholds such as self-judgement, hatred, and addictions, can prevent us from seeing ourselves as truly free in Christ.
Freedom Session works to breakdown these negative strongholds, so that God's positive ones can break through and take hold of your heart. At the end of their journey, Freedom Session participants are often astounded at just how much love and compassion God has for them. And what stronger stronghold is there, do you think, than the unlimited love of the Creator?
I'd like to share two stories of how Freedom Session has helped two different women. Confidentiality is a critical part of Freedom Session, and as such, I have withheld their names.
A woman walked into Freedom Session in 2021. Her negative stronghold was alcohol and drugs. Substance abuse had become an addiction, and she needed help. After one month of experiencing the Freedom Session program and participating in the small group discussions and weekly homework, she found herself free of her addiction to drugs. Her addiction to alcohol, however, still plagued her.
This is where our community stepped in, through prayer, quality time and encouragement. After a further 10 months of experiencing Freedom Session and receiving one-on-one support from our community, this woman finally broke through her stronghold of alcohol abuse. She is now building more and more positive strongholds. She feels more connected to God. She has a better relationship with her husband and kids. God willing, these positive strongholds will protect her in the future from falling back into substance abuse. She is developing her spirituality, her resilience and her connections with a Christian community, because she took the time to be vulnerable, to take a risk, and to dare walk the path that Freedom Session laid before her.
A different woman had felt separated from God for years and years of her life. Through Freedom Session, she was able to take ownership of her past, heal from hurts, and develop a beautiful relationship with God. She is now a group leader, using her unique skills to help others in our community who are struggling. She ministers to others every time she leads. She overcame isolation and spiritual loneliness because she was vulnerable, honest with herself, and committed to improving her life.
These stories speak to our hearts and our spirits. They remind us that God is there for us, and we have tools that can help break through strongholds in the lives of those who are willing. They remind us that no matter the battle, we are never alone in our church community. They remind us that we are never unloved or abandoned by God. He never gives up on us. He never stops fighting for us. Freedom Session is simply another tool to help us reach God, as He continues to fight for us, just like any loving Father would do for his children.
You can find more information about Freedom Session and how it may help you or someone else on their website, freedomsession.com.
Sam B
Thank you to Sue Watson for sharing these stories with me.
*Ephesians 6:17 "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
**Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them."
*** Matthew 25:44-45 "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger naked or sick or in prison and didn't do anything to help you?' Then he will answer, 'I assure you that when you haven't done it for one of the least of these, you haven't done it for me."
I'd like to share two stories of how Freedom Session has helped two different women. Confidentiality is a critical part of Freedom Session, and as such, I have withheld their names.
A woman walked into Freedom Session in 2021. Her negative stronghold was alcohol and drugs. Substance abuse had become an addiction, and she needed help. After one month of experiencing the Freedom Session program and participating in the small group discussions and weekly homework, she found herself free of her addiction to drugs. Her addiction to alcohol, however, still plagued her.
This is where our community stepped in, through prayer, quality time and encouragement. After a further 10 months of experiencing Freedom Session and receiving one-on-one support from our community, this woman finally broke through her stronghold of alcohol abuse. She is now building more and more positive strongholds. She feels more connected to God. She has a better relationship with her husband and kids. God willing, these positive strongholds will protect her in the future from falling back into substance abuse. She is developing her spirituality, her resilience and her connections with a Christian community, because she took the time to be vulnerable, to take a risk, and to dare walk the path that Freedom Session laid before her.
A different woman had felt separated from God for years and years of her life. Through Freedom Session, she was able to take ownership of her past, heal from hurts, and develop a beautiful relationship with God. She is now a group leader, using her unique skills to help others in our community who are struggling. She ministers to others every time she leads. She overcame isolation and spiritual loneliness because she was vulnerable, honest with herself, and committed to improving her life.
These stories speak to our hearts and our spirits. They remind us that God is there for us, and we have tools that can help break through strongholds in the lives of those who are willing. They remind us that no matter the battle, we are never alone in our church community. They remind us that we are never unloved or abandoned by God. He never gives up on us. He never stops fighting for us. Freedom Session is simply another tool to help us reach God, as He continues to fight for us, just like any loving Father would do for his children.
You can find more information about Freedom Session and how it may help you or someone else on their website, freedomsession.com.
Sam B
Thank you to Sue Watson for sharing these stories with me.
*Ephesians 6:17 "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
**Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them."
*** Matthew 25:44-45 "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger naked or sick or in prison and didn't do anything to help you?' Then he will answer, 'I assure you that when you haven't done it for one of the least of these, you haven't done it for me."