Strongholds

The Holy Spirit will lead us out of patterns and systems of thought that enslave us. Paul describes this battle to mortify or kill the works of the flesh in 2 Corinthians 10:4, "We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds."

We don't wage this war with fleshly or carnal means. Instead our weapons are mighty through God to pull down the invisible strongholds or fortresses that are erected in our lives. Some Christians think the word strongholds refers to spiritual forces that keep people in their city from accepting Christ. Often we hear about Christians praying against these strongholds.

Paul is referring, however, to strongholds on the personal level. The very next verse says: "With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ."

These strongholds exist in the realm of the soul, and we must bring every disobedient thought and deed into captivity, because these strongholds will hinder us greatly if they aren't broken. We will actually die defeated as Christians if they aren't broken.

In my own life, I've come to points where the Holy Spirit reveals a truth in a way that it becomes personal to me.

To change, we must believe that we can change. Mark 9:23 says, "Anything is possible if a person believes." In Hebrews 11:1 we discover that faith is "the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see."

Does this happen overnight? No, it's a process.

So, what is God saying to you? Are there areas in which you struggle? The Bible tells us how we can be new men in Christ--all the time, not just part of the time. If we truly want to be, we can be free of the bondages that hold us back. This doesn't mean we're perfect. But we don't have to be enslaved to the lusts of the past. We can change through the renewing of the mind.