Chain Breaking Freedom
Pastor Eric Schroeder
July 20, 2025
How can we be free, when we allow the cares of this world, and its issues chain us, and prevent us from moving forward into all that God has for us. How can we be an example to those around us when we are bound to the same addictions as our neighbor, friend, or family member.
We can’t.
true freedom isn’t just an outward appearance that we put on in front of those that we are with, and then in the quiet of our lives, we struggle.
We all go through the stress of life, we all have cares and concerns, we all are tempted but the question is how do we cope? Do we give in or do we stand.
u in the face of adversity sometimes is the hardest things to do when everything is crashing around you. Standing with the hope and assurance in God and staying true to His steadfastness is hard sometimes when there is chaos all around us.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 NASB
Why is there such a great struggle in our lives with conflict, anxiety, depression, unforgiveness, or just plain chaos?
We know that the enemy is here to kill, steal, and destroy. We know he wants to destroy the very thing that God created in His image. He wants to get rid of the very thing that has more power than him.
We know that the war that is waged is a spiritual one. But I am here to tell you no matter what things look like in the natural, you have already won. Isaiah says no weapon formed against you will prosper.
Galatians 5:16-26 NASB
We see that the flesh is tied to the world, and the spirit is tied to the kingdom of heaven. So, there is this conflict inside each one of us and we have the choice to follow one or the other.
We have the choice to allow the things of the flesh to rise and take control, or we can choose to allow and follow the things of the spirit and all the spirit of God inside of us take control.
It is our which direction we take.
Our enemy is tricky, his methods decisive, remember the bible calls him the deceiver of nations, and the accuser of the brethren. He is an imposter.
1 Peter 5:8-9 NASB
The enemy walks around like a roaring lion. The enemy is seeking who will open the door for him to come in.
James 4:7 NASB Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
If we see an avenue in our lives that the enemy is using to get in that is an avenue or an open door that we have that we need to work on and resist.
Fear is an open door, fear can stop us in our tracks, fear can bring on depression, and anxiety, fear can bring hopelessness, fear can cause us to quit, and or give up.
Jesus on the other hand came to bring us hope and strength to stand strong. He has anointed each one of us to break the cycles, and chains of bondage.
Isaiah 61:1 NASB
The amplified says it this way: to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound.
Luke 4:18 in the Amplified adds this: to send for as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity].
That word is not possessed as we think sometimes, no it means to bring forth pressure. Like doing things that are contrary to the word of God, being bound to sin, being pressured by the spiritual wickedness to do things we are not called to do. (addiction, depression, hatred, unforgiveness, anxiety, fear, hopelessness….)
The enemy will try to bring pressure in our lives to get us to open a door and cave in to His ways.
See Jesus came to break us free from spiritual bondages for example:
- Addictions: substance abuse, gambling, pornography, etc.
- Generational Curses: partnership with inherited patters of sin, disease, or misfortune (mindsets)
- Mental and Emotional Strongholds: chronic depression, anxiety, fear, unforgiveness, bitterness, negative thought patterns, or compulsive destructive behaviors
- Spiritual Blindness/Deception: breaking people free from not seeing the spiritual truth – the enemy will cause confusion to not get us to see the truth.
- Financial Bondages: cycles of poverty or debt
- Physical illness: healing from those things that have a spiritual root or tie. Many times, from word curses that we have spoken over ourselves or things we have tied ourselves to lies.
Jesus had the anointing to break this, and He also passed it on to us. This anointing can be accessed through:
- Prayer – fervent prayer that commands strongholds to be broken in Jesus’s name
- Declaration and Decrees – This is done usually by a minister using his/her spiritual authority. We can all make decrees over our household, workplaces, but remember we cannot make decrees to change a person’s free will. That is witchcraft and it will go unanswered.
- Worship – Our worship is a weapon that the enemy doesn’t like because it brings us into a place where bondages must fall and where freedom is found.
- Laying on of hands: Scripture says lay hands on the sick and they will be healed. The anointing is transferred with the physical touch.
- Deliverance Ministry: If you are struggling to walk things out and fight to remove the influences yourself it is good to come and get some deliverance ministry. It doesn’t hurt, and it is freeing.