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Dr. Tony Evans: All emotional strongholds are rooted in sin.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says your emotions are an easy target for the enemy. If emotions are a product of your thought life, who controls your thought life determines how you feel.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Guest (Male): The Bible tells us to run away from temptation, but when it's coming from your emotions, there's no easy way to escape. Today, Dr. Evans talks about the feelings that control us and how you can decide where those feelings come from. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: Far too many Christians are held hostage by emotional strongholds.

Anger, discouragement, frustration, inferiority complexes, lack of self-esteem, and on and on and on. Fear, paralyzed by their feelings.

Now, it is not a mistake that I've used the word stronghold, not addiction. Addiction is the world's way of explaining you being in hostage to something you can't shake. They say you are addicted to alcohol, addicted to drugs, addicted to sex, addicted to whatever it is.

The only problem with that worldly word is that the term addiction, as it is used in the secular world, suggests that I am a powerless victim to my problem, that I do not have the ability to get out of it because somebody else caused it and my bad genes keeps it.

It is a way of putting off on others what belongs to me.

The biblical word is stronghold. What is the difference between the secular word addiction and the biblical word stronghold is simply this. A stronghold assumes a spiritual dimension, an addiction doesn't. A stronghold assumes that there is something invisible behind the scenes that is cooperating with something visible on the scenes that is keeping me trapped in the situation I'm in.

Addiction means you may never get out of this. A stronghold means that if I can ever get the spiritual right, the physical has to set me free.

We want to overcome strongholds and specifically today, we want to overcome emotional strongholds. Let me look at three things very quickly today so that we can be on target and start to overcome these emotional strongholds. First of all, the causes of emotional strongholds. What causes them? Most of us have in our homes smoke detectors. Those smoke detectors are there to detect smoke.

If the smoke detector goes off, it would not be advisable to take a hammer and smash it to try to get rid of the noise. It wouldn't be advisable to cover your ears so that you don't hear the noise. It wouldn't be advisable simply to hear it, listen to it and say, I'll get used to the noise.

Because the smoke detector is not alarming so that you can hear its noise. That's not why it's coming and making a noise. The smoke detector is letting you know you need to check out something else. The smoke detector is not concerned with itself, it's concerned that in some room of the house, a fire is breaking out, so don't check the detector, check the fire.

What the smoke detector is to the house, emotions are to the soul. They are the signals that God has given the soul of men to say, watch this, that something else is wrong. When you are emotionally distraught as a lifestyle, stronghold. And you spend all your time dealing with your emotions, it's like spending all your time dealing with the smoke detector and never locating the fire.

Emotions are merely a way to let you know something else is wrong and the signal has just gone off. Now that raises the question. What is the cause of emotional strongholds? I didn't ask what is the cause of your emotional addiction. What is the cause of emotional strongholds that are not physiologically tied?

All emotional strongholds that are not physically related to illnesses of the body are rooted in sin. Because I'm not talking about addictions now. All emotional strongholds, I'm not just talking about a bad day, I'm talking about you're trapped by your emotions. You live in fear, you're hostage to anger. That is rooted in sin.

Now, before you react negatively to that, let me finish it. It's either rooted in your sin, something you did that brought it on, or it's rooted in somebody else's sin. It wasn't your sin, but it was sin, or it's rooted in what I might call atmospheric sin. That is, you live in a world that's been so contaminated by sin that there's something always showing up to take you down.

But in either case, it is sin.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. You're saying, Pastor, you've been talking a long time, I ain't seen no Bible yet. All right, let's open it up. Genesis chapter 3. God created Adam and Eve and put them in a perfect environment. Flawless, and there was only joy, no negative emotional experiences. Satan came on the scene and got Adam and Eve to rebel against God. Verse 7.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Now compare that with chapter 2 verse 25, and the man and the woman were both naked and were not ashamed. In chapter 2 verse 25, they're not ashamed. After they have rebelled against God due to the influence of Satan in chapter 3 verse 7, they are ashamed and they have to cover themselves. So now we have the emotion of shame entering into the human race.

Verse 8. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord called and said, where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked. Now you have the emotion of fear, never experienced before, entering into the human race.

Chapter 4. Adam and Eve had a baby, two baby boys, Cain and Abel. God didn't accept Cain's offering, verse 4. And Abel on his part also brought the firstlings of the flock and the fat portions, and the Lord had regard for the offering of Abel. But for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard, so Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. So now you have anger entering into the human race and the falling of the countenance.

So when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, sin, at the influence of Satan, shame entered into the human race, fear entered into the human race, anger entered into the human race, why did it enter into the human race? It entered there because of Satan's influence of sin in the life of men against God. Now, if you don't realize that, you won't go looking for that. The alarm will go off and you'll never see the fire.

That leads to a second of three points that I want to make. The second point is simply this, the categories of spiritual stronghold. There are three general categories. First of all, spiritual strongholds are rooted in pain of the past. What happened to me when I was a child, or I had a traumatic experience as a kid. And what happens is, emotional grooves are dug in our mind because, watch this, Satan makes a tape of your negative experiences.

And he keeps his finger on the replay button. Which can lead to emotional strongholds. The second way or category, problems in the present. You may not be struggling because of the past, you may be dealing with what's going on right now. You know, if anybody should have been depressed, it should have been the Apostle Paul. Second Corinthians 11.

He says in verse 23, he said, I had labors, I had imprisonments, beaten times without numbers, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes, three times I was beaten with a rod, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A day and a night, I spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journey in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers from the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, without food, in cold and exposure. There is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.

And you think you had a bad hair day? He said, let me tell you about my life, every day something's gone wrong. Every day I face mess. Every day I got folk in my life who are trying to bring me down. Every day. And yet, you hardly ever see him depressed. You hardly ever see him wanting to quit. You hardly ever see him wanting to throw in the towel, even though he was going through the pain of the present.

Because he learned something. We're going to share it in just a moment.

Guest (Male): And just before we do, I want to let you know that Dr. Evans digs even deeper into today's subject through a special resource package built around this series. It includes his five-part teaching collection, Overcoming Emotional Strongholds, along with two practical companion booklets, 30 Days to Overcoming Emotional Strongholds, and 30 Days to Overcoming Addictive Behaviors. Together, these resources provide biblical encouragement and a practical month-long path toward breaking unhealthy patterns and experiencing the freedom Christ offers. Just help support Tony's ministry here on the air and around the world with a contribution, and we'll send you the special resource package as our thank you gift. This is a limited time offer, so don't wait. Contact us today at TonyEvans.org to get the details and make the arrangements. Again, that's TonyEvans.org, or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222, where resource team members are standing by around the clock to help you. That number again is 1-800-800-3222. Dr. Evans will return with the second part of today's message right after this.

Guest (Male): Our faith can be tested by many things like pain, loss, or even injustice. On the Unbound podcast, Dr. Tony Evans brings stories of true resilience to light. God knows what suffering is like, the God man himself knows it far more deeply than we ever will. You're not marrying a man, you're marrying a calling. Home is not four walls and a roof. Hope does not disappoint because of the Holy Spirit who's been poured out within us. Unbound with Dr. Tony Evans. Listen now. You can listen to the Unbound podcast wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. Right now, let's get back to Dr. Evans for more on Overcoming Emotional Strongholds.

Dr. Tony Evans: There's a third reason, or category of pain, fear of the future. You're scared about tomorrow. What if I get cancer? What if I have a heart attack? What if one of my children dies? What if, what if, what if, and even though you know Matthew 6:34 says, don't be anxious for tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own, you are a hostage.

To what might happen.

You live in fear of what could take place. And so you are paralyzed. Now folks, all you have is the past, present and the future. That's it. So if the past don't get you, the present might. If the present don't get you, the future will. What's the cure? You don't cure emotional strongholds by denying that they exist. Nor do you overcome emotional strongholds by overriding them.

By getting something more powerful to distract you from them. It can distract you, but it doesn't deal with it. Nor do you overcome emotional strongholds by avoiding things that bring them up. You know why? Because Satan will always have another thing around the corner to bring it up again. Emotions don't have, watch this, intellect. Emotions are dumb. They don't think.

Emotions, watch this, have to borrow thoughts. They have to borrow thoughts in order to emote off of them. Because they have no thoughts of their own. Emotions respond to what we think. Therefore, if emotions are a product of your thought life, who controls your thought life determines how you feel.

Did you hear what I just said? If emotions piggyback on thoughts, then whoever is controlling the thoughts that the emotions are piggybacking off of, controls how or what emotion will express itself. If the devil is controlling your thinking, then you'll feel like he wants you to feel. If God is controlling your thinking, then you will feel like God wants you to feel because emotions piggyback off of thoughts.

It's because as a man thinketh, so is he. That's why Jesus said, you will know the truth. You will know the truth. You you will know. If you know it, not not just hear it, if you know the truth, that truth, that data will set you free. It will set you free in this case from emotional strongholds, but you need to know the truth. See, some of you just discovered your identity in Christ. You never knew that truth before. So you were held hostage to your old identity in Adam, and you never knew what grace was, so you always had to feel like the devil wanted you to feel, because you were operating off of your old identity.

So you had to feel that way. Because he controlled you. Psalm 42. He says, as the deer pants after the water brook, I'm panting after you. Now, it sounds like when he starts, everything's okay. That's not why he's panting after God. He's panting after God because nothing's okay. He says in verse 3, my tears are my food day and night. I'm depressed. He says in verse 4, I can't forget. I'm remembering stuff that happened and I can't forget, so I'm pouring my soul out. He says in verse 5, I'm in despair. He says in the second half of verse 5, I'm discouraged within me.

But then he says, I'm going to go to God and I'm going to find help. I'm going to go to God and I'm going to find help verse 5 from his presence. Oh, my soul is discouraged, but then I'm going to remember the Lord. He says in verse 8, the Lord will command his loving kindness. He hadn't done it yet, but my confidence is in the Lord. He says, the Lord is my rock in verse 9. He says in verse 11, why are you despised, oh my soul? Why have you become disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise him, and the help of the countenance of my God.

What affected his discouragement? He looked in a different direction. He looked for what God was going to do, even though he couldn't see it, in other words, he looked by faith. Anybody know what Joseph named his two sons? He named one Manasseh. This is after he went through a whole lifetime of pain. He named one Manasseh, which means the Lord has helped me to forget.

Then he had another baby boy, and his name was Ephraim. He named Ephraim because Ephraim came to mean that the Lord has made me fruitful in my suffering. He named his baby boys because of what he saw with God, and then he looked at his brothers and said, you messed over me and you meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. In other words, God can take a mess and turn it into a miracle if you're looking for God and not just looking for feelings. As long as Satan can keep you looking at your feelings, you're never going to look at God. And when you never look at God, you won't see what God is doing and he will keep you distressed and in emotional turmoil.

That's why the church is so important. Because you know what the church is supposed to be, not just a place where we come here to preach, and come here to be quiet, church is supposed to be a place where you come to find encouragement. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, Hebrews 10 says, but stir one another up, encourage one another. The church is the place you come to find folk who are going to keep you looking at God when you can't see him. Hallelujah.

It's supposed to be the place where you get discouraged, they may not be able to solve your problem. They may not be able to counsel you out of that problem. They will point you to God and keep your eyes focused on him so that you're not drowned by what you're going through. But you even got to watch out what church members you hang out with. That's right. If you're discouraged about your marriage, don't hang out with somebody else trying to get a divorce. You want to talk to somebody who was getting ready to leave their marriage, found God and can tell you where God can show up in the midst of what seems like an impossible marriage situation. You want to find encouragement in the house of the Lord.

You know why Israel was discouraged and they didn't go into the promised land? Because they listened to the wrong report. All y'all know my favorite soul singing group growing up was what? Temptations. Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, you know, they were the boys. And their most famous song of all was what? My girl. My girl. Oh David Ruffin broke out and said, I got sunshine on a cloudy day. He said, when it's cold outside, I got the month of May. And then he said, now I know you don't know what I'm talking about. Cuz what you want to know is, I guess you say. What can make me, watch this, feel this way.

And then he answered the question. He said, my girl. He said, in case you didn't hear me, I'm talking about my girl. What he was saying is, my external circumstances are dark, but the sun is shining inside. You may be in a cloudy situation right now. You may have a cloudy past. People may have abused you before and you don't know where to go. Every day is dark. But I'm here to tell you today that you can have sunshine on a cloudy day. Your life may be cold and you may be shivering because of mistreatment and abuse. You may be trembling all over because things aren't going right. The doctor's prescription may not be in your best interest. But I'm here to tell you, when it's cold outside, that you can still have the month of May.

Now I know what you're asking, I guess you say. What can make me feel this way? My God. I'm talking about my God. He gives me sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, he can still give you the month of May, but he's got to be your God. Listen. I don't need no money. Fortune or fame. I got all the riches that this man could claim because of my God. I guess you say. What can make this preacher feel this way? It's my God. And I'm talking about my God. He can meet me in a mess and turn it into a miracle. That's my God. He can take my bad past and still give me a smile. That's my God. That's my God. Is he your God today? He can change your emotional stronghold. He can change the way you feel today.

Guest (Male): (Music fades in and plays)

Guest (Male): And if you've never made him your God, here's Dr. Evans again with a word on how you can do that.

Dr. Tony Evans: If you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you can do that right now. Simply go to him and acknowledge that you're a sinner in need of a savior and that you're transferring your trust to him alone because of his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. In fact, I'm going to say a little prayer, and you can repeat it after me, you just have to mean it for yourself. Heavenly Father, I know I'm a sinner and that I can't save myself. I believe Jesus Christ, your son, died on the cross in my place for my sin. And I now am trusting him alone to forgive me and to give me the gift of eternal life that he promised to give to anyone who came to him for it. Thank you for saving me and help me from this day forward to live a life pleasing to you. Congratulations, welcome to the family. God bless you.

Guest (Male): And if you prayed that prayer for the first time today, we invite you to visit our website, TonyEvans.org, and follow the link at the top of the homepage that simply says Jesus. You'll find helpful resources there about what a new life in Christ is all about. And while you're on the website, you can get more details on that special offer I mentioned earlier, the complete five-part teaching series containing today's lesson, including material we didn't have time to share on the air, along with Tony's companion booklets. 30 Days to Overcoming Emotional Strongholds and 30 Days to Overcoming Addictive Behaviors. Together, these practical resources will help you replace destructive habits with biblical truth and lasting hope. For a limited time, we're making this complete Overcoming Emotional Strongholds resource package available as our thank you gift for your contribution toward Tony's ministry. Visit TonyEvans.org today to get all the details. Again, that's TonyEvans.org, or call us at 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24/7 to serve you. That's 1-800-800-3222.

Guest (Male): Diets, dollars, and degrees. The three Ds we vainly use to improve our self-image. But Dr. Evans says God looks at his children from a different perspective. Be sure to listen tomorrow as he gives us a healthier way to satisfy our craving for approval and acceptance.