TimeWithDoug.com Encouragements and Resources from Doug Roberts

Parts from my book, Back to the Basics

My book is finished and will be in print in December,  pray the book will be a blessing and a help to you on your journey.

Pg 229

" When a Kingdom man speaks of ruling, he really only has authority to establish what the King has already put in place. So when we speak of ruling our soul, we are only establishing the fact that the Father has redeemed our soul (bought it back) from death. Ben, I think you sing a song about that redemption from the pit of emptiness. The Father is the only One that has the original blueprint of how our soul was created. And I think it says in Gen. 2 that he created  a living soul. So when we feel the pull of death on our  soul, we just have to trust (like the psalmist says) that He will restore it, for that is one of the things that the blood of Christ has purchased for us - a "redeemed" soul. And that is truly a firm foundation for us to stand on. We can say (along with the psalmist) "Return unto your rest, oh my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. We can say "Bless the Lord, oh my soul" for that is truly what you were made for."

"As we begin to trust the Father in the restoration of our soul, we will begin to feel the freedom that the psalmist talked about when he said "My soul has escaped, as a bird, out of the snare of the fowler." What freedom! And we can trust that He who began this good work is faithful to complete it. The invitation to "Come unto Me, all you who are weary …….. and you will find rest for your souls" can be an anchor for your soul - a sure foundation.

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Page 177

"Is that what Paul was talking about when he said to come and follow him and imitate him?" asked Doug. "There again, that is why you need foundation in your life.  If you don't know the Father's love, His forgiveness, and your identity in Christ, then what are you going to produce? One of the reasons why we need to practice righteousness and know what God has called us to do is that there are people that might be watching us and want to press into a relationship with us and draw from the resources of our experiences."

"It was Paul's goal to bring every man complete into Christ - not to bring him into his teaching or doctrine or ministry. Who we are in Christ and who someone else is in Christ will have some similarities, but it has some uniqueness also.

I have walked with Ben for fifteen or sixteen years now. However, I still don't play a guitar and sing. Ben doesn't ride a horse and rope a cow.  But I can call him into his destiny and bring him into the fullness of who he is in Christ because of the  grace given me. That is discipleship. That is making disciples by bringing people into who they are in Christ."

Doug settled back into his chair again. and glanced out the window, which looked like it was covered with  a black sheet.  There was no moon at all that night.

"It is important that we don't present ourselves as vessels of unrighteousness because it not only affects us but it can affect generations beyond us.  I don't say that to put  pressure on us to perform, just to call forth our destiny.  I don't practice righteousness because I am trying to put forth an image. I do it because I behold the Lord, and because I behold the Lord, I see who He is and I am changed."

''In speaking about what we practice, I want to return to this word addiction," said Ben. "Is addiction always demonic  or not? If someone feels like they can't overcome an addiction, what are some tools they can use to overcome it? How do we need to understand that for each other and for ourselves?"

"You can try in your flesh time and time again to overcome patterns, but your flesh is weak. However, if you deal with the issue that caused the door to be opened to the enemy and you close that door, then the outward expression or habit is going to take care of itself."  Doug leaned forward and looked up and out the window this time, so he could see the stars twinkling through the trees.

"If you take a man who is addicted to some type of pornography, you can almost always go back to something happening in his childhood. Some perversion most likely happened and he made a judgment about who he was because of what happened to him.  As a result, he gets stuck in this need to continually  satisfy the judgment he made, which results in an addiction.  If you show him that he was a victim in his past and it wasn't his fault, he was a child and the situation was perverted, and help him break the victim mentality off, then he wakes up and realizes that he is not a bad person, he just had a bad thing happen to him.  He realizes that the bad thing that happened to him caused him to make a judgment, and then he can deal with that issue. His mind can be renewed in Christ as to who he is and what will fulfill him.  The judgment he was believing has been exposed as an unrighteous judgement. He then can begin to believe God's judgements about him that are true and righteous.

"You mentioned the demonic earlier," said Ben.  "Some of us grew up with that being common to our talk, and some of us  didn't.  How does that enter in? Does it enter in every time?

" I believe if we are to practice righteousness, we need to receive every benefit given from the Father."  Doug said with a slight smile. " He wants a people that are completely His. So Christ came to destroy the work of the devil. "

"There are many accounts in Scripture where Jesus ministered to  people who were demon possessed.  Jesus  discerned what spirit was controlling that person - he addressed it - and cast it out.   So I believe  we need to walk in the gift of discernment also. This is just one of the nine gifts that are given to us from the Holy Spirit to love people well. We have been given authority to cast out demons, heal the sick, and even raise the dead."

"I think it is interesting that the disciples were so filled with faith in what Jesus said they would do as believers, that they came running back to the Lord and said "Jesus, WHY couldn't we cast out the demons?". Oh, that the church today, would have that mind-set and would not be fearful to ask the Father "WHY".   Are we ready to hear from the Father that we are not prepared?  Are we ready to repent from our unbelief and truly receive and walk in full authority as Sons? Are we willing to sacrifice  (fast and pray) to see people be set free."

"But I also believe that if we walk in the Spirit we will crucify our flesh, and not give in to the deeds that come from walking in the flesh."

"I had a man tell me one time that he needed deliverance.  I asked him why he thought that. He said he was really struggling with his thoughts. I realized that his struggle wasn't demonic.  It was just his flesh, and he needed to learn how to crucify his flesh, by learning how to appropriate what God has accomplished through Christ."