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Breaking Free From the Spell of Fantasy

It begins with being born again (John 3:3). The late Keith Green captured this experience in a song titled “Your Love Broke Through,” in which he described his life before his conversion:

Like a foolish dreamer trying to build a highway in the sky,
All my hopes would come tumbling down and I never knew just why.

But when he came to Christ, he said it was,

Like waking up from the longest dream,
How real it seemed,
Until [Christ’s] love broke through.
I’ve been lost in a fantasy
That blinded me,
Until your love broke through.

When Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), the Real Good broke into the evil fantasy world and the Garden-City invaded the wasteland. Coming to faith in Jesus is our first awakening and liberation.

Breaking the Stronghold of Evil Fantasy

But still having indwelling sin woven into our bodies (Romans 7:23), we are still susceptible to fantasy’s charming evil.

Having come to faith in Jesus, the way Jesus destroys the addictive stronghold of fantasy in our lives section by section is by calling us to live by faith in his promises (Galatians 2:20).

The garden of Eden was turned into a wasteland by faith, as Adam and Eve put their faith in the serpent’s promise that the fantasy of rebellion against God would make them happy and free. Now the hellish wasteland of the fantasy of sin is turned back into a better garden, the Garden-City, by faith, as we put our faith in every precious and great promise of God to make us free and happy (2 Peter 1:4).

The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4–5)

Evil fantasy presents itself as a delectable delight. But it is not. It is an argument to be destroyed, not a sweet apple to be eaten. Believing this truth—really believing it—is the key to breaking free from fantasy’s enchantment.

The evil fantasy that tempts you to believe its fictional attractive charm and promises to make you happy is nothing more than an ethereal wraith with a poison apple that will deliver only dreary, monotonous, joy-stealing barrenness. Don’t listen to it. Don’t eat its apple.

Instead, look to Jesus and listen to Jesus. Only he has the words of eternal life (John 6:68) because it will eventually bring you the true, beautiful, continually fresh, surprising good that you really desire.

And the more you cultivate the habit of looking to and listening to Jesus, the more your spiritual taste buds and eyesight for real good will be restored so that you can “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).