Breaking Strongholds

Breaking Strongholds

We live in this world, but we don’t act like its people or fight our battles with the weapons of this world. Instead, we use God’s power that can destroy fortresses. We destroy arguments and every bit of pride that keeps anyone from knowing God. We capture people’s thoughts and make them obey Christ.

– II Corinthians 10:3-5

STRONGHOLD: Anything that exalts itself against God’s Word.  It contradicts the Truth.  It contradicts what God says about you.  It goes against the will of God for your life!

a)      A stronghold begins with a thought, or two or three.

b)      A negative thought unchecked…leads to vain imaginations…and that’s how strongholds are born.

How to Break Strongholds:

1. Go to the source—your thought life.

Proverbs 23:7- For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you.

a)      We have to evaluate our thought life.  What wrong thoughts have  we accepted and believed that led to this stronghold?

2. Let go of the past pain.

Isaiah 43:18-19 Do not remember the things that have happened before. Do not think about the things of the past. See, I will do a new thing. It will begin happening now. Will you not know about it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

a)      FORGET the past!

b)      Don’t DWELL on it anymore!

c)      This is a NEW day!

3. Control your thoughts.

Ephesians 6:12-13 Our fight is not with people. It is against the leaders and the powers and the spirits of darkness in this world. It is against the demon world that works in the heavens. ¹³ Because of this, put on all the things God gives you to fight with. Then you will be able to stand in that sinful day. When it is all over, you will still be standing.

a)       Take every thought CAPTIVE and make it obedient to Christ.

b)       We have to deliberately choose what we allow our minds to dwell on.

c)       Decide Right Now:

d)      I am finished with this battle!

e)       I’m not fighting this stronghold the rest of my life!

f)        I am not going to let suicidal thoughts get the best of me!

g)       I am not going to allow poverty to reign in my life!

h)       I am not going to allow bitterness to control my life!

i)         Divine Weapons To Demolish Negative Thoughts—You Have:

j)         The Word of God

k)       The Name of Jesus

l)         Power and Authority over Satan

m)     At The First Sign Of A Negative Thought:

1. Stop and acknowledge that the thought is not from God.

2. Make a decision: I am not going to take Satan’s bait! I am not going to dwell on this

ungodly thought.

3. Resist Satan in the Name of Jesus!

4. Replace that thought with God’s thoughts about you.

a)     Don’t identify yourself with tempting thoughts.

b)     Instead of turning on yourself and attacking your self-esteem when thoughts come—turn

it around and attack the lies!  Deal with the real culprit that is a lie of Satan.

4. Be PERSISTENT!

A stronghold doesn’t develop overnight.   So you have to be consistent and persistent until you see the victory

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Do You Remember?

Do you remember when dancing was undignified and just my name could make you cry? when grace was still amazing because it was more than just a song.. Do you remember? Do you remember at all?… Remember, how we use to talk and you would call me ABBA GOD?.. and knowing I love you was the of greatest reward? When worship wasn’t well rehearsed? and Buildings didn’t mean the church? And to be with me a hour didn’t seem like a such chore?.. Do you remember? Do you remember at all?…

Leave The Past Behind

Stop
dwelling on past events
and brooding over times gone by;
I am doing
something new;
it’s springing up – cant’ you see it?
I am making a road in
the desert,
rivers in the wasteland.

– Isaiah 43:18-19

Reading this Scripture I knew that God wanted me to understand that He was indeed doing something new in my life. In fact I had heard those verses before and really liked the idea of His doing something new that He would make a way for me where it looked dry and wasted. But this time I knew He wanted me to see verse 18 and that the two verses really did go together. That got me to thinking.

I didn’t need to ask if I really was dwelling on past events. I was the queen of brooding over times gone by. When the God brought this to my attention there were a few things that I found interesting. First of all, whenever I would start dwelling on past events, on wrongs done to me or on wrongs that I had done to others, I would start to relive the feelings of the past and get angry, depressed, you name it. If I had either forgiven or asked for forgiveness, then I was purposely going back to the filth of those sins and wallowing in them probably not such a good thing to do. Then there’s the word “brooding.” Now, some people use that word to mean fuss or fume over something, but this is the same word that the God uses in Genesis when He says that the Spirit of the Lord was brooding over the face of the deep during creation. There is a sense of care and nurturing attached with this word. Was I really caring for and nurturing my feelings of pain and frustration that are attached with those times gone by? You bet I was! Lastly, if I really was dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by, if my attention was focused there, could I really see the newness that the Lord was bringing to my life? Very simply, it was extremely difficult to do so because my attention was not on the Lord.

God is indeed doing new things in our lives. He wants to bring us to new places of intimacy with Him. He wants to heal us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But we have to cooperate, let go of what lies in the past, focus our attention on the Lord, and be amazed at what He does for us!

Wake Up..

In the book of Job, as God speaks from a whirlwind, he sets up his challenging “conversation” to Job by sayng “Brace yourself like a man!” Lately through reading scriptures from Job 38-40, having dreams about what will happen in the earth, and is already happening, some, and through prophecy, it’s like the Lord is saying to the church, “!” We have to get ready for what God is about to do, and what he might allow in our nation and in the world. He knows the time and season, Jesus is longing for his bride. And the earth (and the true church) is longing for Jesus…Beloved, the time is NOW to allign our hearts with the will of the Father. To pray in the spirit. To be bold and obedient. To declare with heaven, the glory of God on the earth. HOLINESS UNTO JESUS! The Lord shared with me last year, that he was raising up a generation who’s only cry is “Holiness unto the Lord!” and that he wanted to raise up a “Matthew 5” generation. ARE YOU AWAKE TO THAT? Are you listening to the voice of God or the echo of others? (even “Christians”) In Psalm 103:7, it says,”He revealed His CHARACTER to Moses and His DEEDS to the people of Israel.” Remember when the Israelites did not want to seek God “face to face,” but just allowed Moses (their “Pastor,” so to speak…) to hear from God for them? Well, they missed out on a beautiful treasure, an intimate knowledge of WHO GOD WAS…what He was really like, and could have pleased him a lot better if they had known for themselves. Yes, they saw miracles and provision, God’s “deeds,” but Moses got to see God’s “Character!” Are YOU willing to climb the mountain of His presence? Are you hungry to know God for yourself? To hear his secrets? To know what he’s like and how to please him? DO YOU WANT TO BE CHANGED until your very face shines? It won’t happen through a second-hand experience or a “hand-me-down” word. It will only happen when yousee God for yourself. Don’t settle…Don’t run away from God. Run TO him. get alone with Him and pour your heart out. Climb that mountain and stay there until he reveals himself to you. “Jesus give us eyes to see your beauty and ears to hear your voice. We don’t just seek your hand, we seek your face!” Time is short. Walk close to Him and heed his instructions. Be ready! “Brace yourself like a man.” He’s coming. You will see signs and wonders in the earth. You will feel the earth trembling. Let the Lord shake your spirit as he will shake this earth. Some of the “shaking” you will see, is God, shaking our nation(s) by the shoulders out of sleep, with his own hands saying “WAKE UP!” God is calling for true worship. SOUND THE ALARM! Isaiah 58:1…