Psalms 9:9
"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."
"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."
A spiritual stronghold is a habitual pattern of thought, built into one’s thought life.
Satan and his minions want to capture the minds of people: the mind is the citadel (stronghold) of the soul.
****He who controls the mind controls a very strategic place!****
Romans 8:5-6: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
If you want the abundant life and peace that Christ promised, you must let his Spirit capture the stronghold of your mind.
Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."
In Matt 12:34-35, Jesus said, For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
Strongholds are also storage places, holding food, water and weapons.
A stronghold gets stronger as more stuff--more thoughts—gets stored in there.
In the life of the mind, the stuff that you were aware of gets stored up in unconscious memory, but it can make a stronghold a tough nut to crack!
A stronghold is a way of thinking and feeling that has developed a life of its own in a person.
It might be a rut of depression or recurring unbelief or habitually bad temper.
It might be a repeating pattern of failure.
Sometimes a stronghold will cause you to provoke others to reject you, (without necessarily knowing you’re doing it.)
It might be a stronghold of resentment or worthlessness.
If a child is sexually molested and/or badly verbally abused, a stronghold of worthlessness may build up a stockpile of negative thoughts.
"I’m guilty. Nobody could really love me. I’m good for nothing. I’m ugly."
She might actually be beautiful — and certainly is beautiful in the eyes of God.
But a stronghold gets filled with arguments like these:
Such a person may hear a message about God’s love, whether from a pulpit or a friend, but it goes in one ear and out the other, bouncing off the walls of a stronghold of rejection or worthlessness.
You almost hear the truth come to set you free, and then comes another thought,
"Yeah, but what about...?" Or "You just don’t understand...."
And out comes another string of lies, excuses, smokescreens, shot down by blocking spirits.
Thus a stronghold creates inner captivity to deception and misery.
A stronghold keeps a person from thinking clearly, and accepting the truth, repenting of sin, and receiving deliverance.
A stronghold can keep an unbeliever from hearing the good news.
A stronghold can keep a believer from hearing the fullness of the good news.
Tomorrow we will discuss how to rear down an evil stronghold.
ACTION STEP: Think about any evil stronghold that may have power over your life and the way you think and act. Write it down. Then, look up what God say's about that stronghold. Come back tomorrow and I will share with you how to tear it down.
I believe in you and you need to believe in yourself.
Satan and his minions want to capture the minds of people: the mind is the citadel (stronghold) of the soul.
****He who controls the mind controls a very strategic place!****
Romans 8:5-6: Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
If you want the abundant life and peace that Christ promised, you must let his Spirit capture the stronghold of your mind.
Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."
In Matt 12:34-35, Jesus said, For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
Strongholds are also storage places, holding food, water and weapons.
A stronghold gets stronger as more stuff--more thoughts—gets stored in there.
In the life of the mind, the stuff that you were aware of gets stored up in unconscious memory, but it can make a stronghold a tough nut to crack!
A stronghold is a way of thinking and feeling that has developed a life of its own in a person.
It might be a rut of depression or recurring unbelief or habitually bad temper.
It might be a repeating pattern of failure.
Sometimes a stronghold will cause you to provoke others to reject you, (without necessarily knowing you’re doing it.)
It might be a stronghold of resentment or worthlessness.
If a child is sexually molested and/or badly verbally abused, a stronghold of worthlessness may build up a stockpile of negative thoughts.
"I’m guilty. Nobody could really love me. I’m good for nothing. I’m ugly."
She might actually be beautiful — and certainly is beautiful in the eyes of God.
But a stronghold gets filled with arguments like these:
- "Nobody would like me if they really got to know me."
- "Nobody really knows me."
- "Nobody really cares for me."
- "Nobody really wants me for me."
Such a person may hear a message about God’s love, whether from a pulpit or a friend, but it goes in one ear and out the other, bouncing off the walls of a stronghold of rejection or worthlessness.
You almost hear the truth come to set you free, and then comes another thought,
"Yeah, but what about...?" Or "You just don’t understand...."
And out comes another string of lies, excuses, smokescreens, shot down by blocking spirits.
Thus a stronghold creates inner captivity to deception and misery.
A stronghold keeps a person from thinking clearly, and accepting the truth, repenting of sin, and receiving deliverance.
A stronghold can keep an unbeliever from hearing the good news.
A stronghold can keep a believer from hearing the fullness of the good news.
Tomorrow we will discuss how to rear down an evil stronghold.
ACTION STEP: Think about any evil stronghold that may have power over your life and the way you think and act. Write it down. Then, look up what God say's about that stronghold. Come back tomorrow and I will share with you how to tear it down.
I believe in you and you need to believe in yourself.
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