BREAK FREE!!!
The word stronghold has two contexts or connotations throughout the Bible. The literal meaning of "stronghold" is fortress; refuge; helmet or protection. The LORD is called that in Psalm 27:1 when it says "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (ESV)In this verse, the LORD's man or woman testify to the Mighty Saving Power of God, Who can and does do good things for His people. Because God is mighty to save, being our Shield and Protector causes us to live fearless lives for Him!
The other meaning of the word "stronghold" is not so good! In fact it is completely the opposite of the protection of the Lord! In short, this kind of stronghold is a pattern of thinking or a mindset; reasoning or rationale...through a certain belief...which is resistant to or rebellious against the Person and Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!
This stronghold is a stubborn, sinful idea which has 'fortified' itself in its own fortress. The main difference is this castle is a prison which keeps the person in bondage to whatever sin has grabbed him or her. This stronghold does not just happen but began simply as a sinful thought that got a 'toehold' in the person's life. If we use pornography as an example, it started as a simple visual or photo which popped up when you mistyped a word in "Google" while doing a research paper for, say, college or even a sermon!
That image then gets stuck in your mind. I know of a woman, of all people, who worked in sales and found herself innocently enough having to sell these laptops. The more she was around them and fellow computer sales folks, the easier it was for them to lead her astray into "oh it's nothing, it's just harmless fun". The next thing you know, this toehold got a foothold in her consciousness and she started going to internet porn sites at home.
Now this was a married woman! Her husband caught her on the computer at home watching the filth after seeing charges on the credit card for strange sounding websites! At first, she tried to rope him in to "enjoy" the experience with her. The moment she started using grocery money for her habit, it had moved from having a foothold to being a demonic stronghold in her life. They are now in divorce court.
The Apostle Paul wrote: "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For 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 10:3-5 ESV).
This stronghold of pornography, adultery, drugs, alcohol or anything which takes you away from a right relationship with Jesus and your loved ones cannot be easily swept aside; dealt with or destroyed. It did not become a stronghold overnight as it was the end result of a sinful process. The good news is God has given us the weapons to pull it down and destroy it!
So Father in the Name of Jesus, I come to You now, knowing that the evil one has set out to seek, kill and destroy each and everyone of Your saints. He has set his stinking thinking to the ruin of the best of us by putting, what some call, just a "little seemingly harmless pleasurable" thought in our mind. Lord but we know, that the pleasures of sin are only for season.
Lord give us strength therefore to resist these thoughts and as the Scriptures says, let us then take EVERY single thought captive and refuse to participate in it. You give us the Word of God to do that, if we only recognize that we have the authority to use it to fortify ourselves. The Psalm says "Thy Word oh God, I have hidden in my heart that I may not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11).
There it is, You have given us Your living, breathing Word - found in the Bible - to fight these thoughts before they become footholds leading to strongholds. You have given us Your Holy Spirit to know an discern these things and see when the enemy is coming after our minds, our marriages or our families. The Spirit has already prepared a way out which You, in Your all-knowing Mind, have prepared for us!
Let us therefore be mindful of that Truth and use the Divine Power, which You have already sub-contracted out to us, to resist and defeat the evil one. Father in the Name of Jesus, if something has already become a stronghold in our lives, let us seek out a more mature believer than us, who can come alongside us and counsel with and pray with us to pull these strongholds down and destroy them through prayer, fasting and confrontational intercession with these demons.
Lord we thank You that You have given us the Spirit of Christ to deal with these awful challenges in life and we claim that Authority now, given to us in John 1:12, under the Power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' Holy, Mighty and Powerful Name....as we are now victors in the battle; overcomers and more than conquerors in and through the Word and in Truth, in Jesus' Name, Amen and Amen!
(image by google images)
3 comments:
Enjoyed this devotion. God bless!
Encouraging Thoughts for Life
Thank you brother Derrick!! Be blessed today in Jesus' Name, amen!!
Hey, by the way, how about if I repost your "Am I on the Right Path" on Monday morning, brother?! That was very well written! Thanks either way!
Bernie
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