Strongholds

​Having served in the military, I understand strongholds.
Thankful to God that I did not experience combat firsthand, I was still trained by the Navy and Marine Corps concerning the priority and utter necessity to take out enemy strongholds.
To win a decisive military battle, enemy strongholds have to be taken. The enemy’s fortresses must be destroyed. Wiped out. Obliterated. Never to rise again.
The Bible addresses strongholds in our lives. Particularly spiritual ones.
In II Corinthians 10:3-5, The Apostle Paul instructs us how to destroy strongholds (fortresses) that have taken hold of our minds and heart.
“For though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds). We are destroying speculations and every lofty thought raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every though captive to the obedience of Christ.”
Have you ever wondered why you keep struggling with the same sin, the same negative, troubling, tormenting thoughts,  the same sabotaging of relationships, destructive habits and the self-defeating, never ending battle  to overcome something that is sucking the life out or you?
Maybe, just maybe, you are struggling with a stronghold. 
All of us, if we are honest, battle spiritual, mental, and emotional strongholds.  
Paul lays out for you and me practical pointers for destroying strongholds.

1. Destroying strongholds isn’t about our flesh. Spiritual warfare is about faith in Christ and waring a good warfare in His holy, powerful, stronghold destroying name.
2. Our weapons are spiritual, not carnal. The whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) is our arsenal for defeating strongholds that attack our thoughts and subsequent behavior. A soldier without his weapons will be destroyed.
3. Our spiritual weapons are powered by God. “Divinely powerful” means its not about Steve destroying fortress by himself. It is about Almighty God doing it through me.
4. Christians are to destroy every lofty thought raised up against the knowledge of God. Note destroy, not entertain or dwell upon!
5. The key to victory over thoughts based on strongholds is obedience to Christ. Disobedience to the Lord and His Word sets up the probability of a stronghold.
6. Christ followers are to capture their thoughts, not be captured by them. Take control of our thinking instead of our thoughts controlling us.

Solomon said in Proverbs 23:7 “As a man thinks, so he is.” Bottom line: What we think is who we are. A spiritual stronghold captures our thoughts so we think wrongly and act accordingly.
As I have ministered God’s Word to people for over forty years, I have found that many, if not most folks experiencing a life crisis, are unsuccessfully struggling with a stronghold. The spiritual, mental, and emotional fortress that has captured their thoughts is dictating how they live their lives.
Strongholds imprison people, drain the life out of us, take the wind out of our sails, and will discourage, depress and disillusion us if they are not confronted.  
People can get stuck in the rut of a stronghold that they have refused to deal with.
Destroying Spiritual And Emotional Strongholds

• Acknowledge that you are being beaten by a stronghold. Admit it. Call your stronghold what it is. Self-pity? Low self-esteem? Inferiority complex? Fear of failure? Rejection? Abandonment? Addiction? Immorality? Name it what it is. How can you take it down if you don’t locate it?
• Face the fortress head on with faith.  Determine to take it out. Boldly confront and conquer in Christ what has been conquering you. Refuse to be pushed around anymore by pain. Push pain back because Jesus took your pain for you!  
• Know the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit. Study your Bible from cover to cover. Memorize scripture. Think God’s thoughts. You have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16). Renew you mind with God’s Word (romans 12:1-2). Confess God’s truth over your situation. Purposely take your thoughts captive. Never surrender your thinking to Satan’s strongholds.  
• When battling a stronghold enlist mature, seasoned, trustworthy, battle tested Christians to help you fight in the name of the Lord to conquer the stronghold that has a foothold in your life. Isolation is not your friend. Solitary confinement in a stronghold’s prison will destroy you!
• Rebuke the devil who is behind spiritual strongholds sent to confuse and destroy faith. Take the evil one out in the name of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
• Stand courageously with firm, unwavering faith that leaves no room for a stronghold to re-appear. Every single day be strong in Christ. Build your faith. Be unshakable, immovable in Jesus Christ.  

Over the past forty-seven years as a Christian, I have battled my share of strongholds. Some of them beat me up for longer than I should have tolerated. I have not always destroyed strongholds in the way that would have delivered me. But I have learned to identify a potential stronghold, surrender it to the Lod, and then resist it in His name.  
 It has been a life-altering revelation for me in my Christian journey that God is stronger than any stronghold. So simple. So true. So necessary to build a stronghold (fortress) in my mind based on God’s Word. 
My friend and fellow believer in Christ, join with me daily in thanking God that He is our fortress, our stronghold, our defender, our refuge, our deliverer, our shelter and our strength!   
 “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10
“I love Thee, O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock and my deliverer, my God, my rock in Whom I take refuge.; my shield and the horn of my salvation, MY STRONGHOLD.” Psalm 18:1-2
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
A Word For Your Week: Tear down that stronghold that has been tearing up your life.