Strongholds - Pastor Rusty - Jan. 31, 2025
“For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” II Cor. 10:3-5 Berean Standard Bible.
First of all, we do not wage war according to the flesh. If you are going to function at any high level of spiritual warfare you need to lose all knee jerk reaction to the world that is going on around you.🤔 For though you live in this world you do not function as the world. You are a spiritual being having an earthly experience for 70+ years. Our weapons are not of the flesh, but “they (our weapons) have DIVINE POWER to demolish STRONGHOLDS.” First of all, what are these weapons and what are these strongholds? Let us look at some of are weaponry first.🤔 The most obvious is the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit. Don’t underestimate the role sheer faith has in all your spirit life. It is not only a weapon it is a defense. There is no substitute for faith. Assumption, presumption, or ideology is not a substitute for faith. Trust and hope are characteristics of faith and will aid you in the pulling down of strongholds. Not all strongholds are captured instantaneously and spiritual battles can be drawn out over years. Faith will sustain you in the conflict when everything else has abandoned the fight. The sword of the Spirit (theWord of God) allows you to speak the word of the Lord into any wall of resistance of spiritual conflict that begin to drain your Human Resources. There is also the helmet of salvation, which allows you to function with the mind of Christ. These are no small things and they are filled with “Divine Power”. Combine this with “Truth in the inward parts”…. The belt of truth! Don’t underestimate the concept of functioning with having lions girded with truth. This isn’t to be confused with having right information. This has more to do with having honesty and integrity within along with great light within… “Holy illumination” from the Spirit about your own inward workings. You can’t deal the speck in the eye of another until you remove the beam from your own eye. People translate this to mean, “Do not judge”. But literally it means to clear debris from your own eye to “see clearly” before delving into the psyche of others.🤔 Matt. 7:5.
Let’s look for a minute on what constitutes spiritual strongholds. Verse 5 in the above text reveals what constitutes strongholds… arguments, presumptions thoughts and imaginations that are to be taken captive. Spiritual can include demonic activity but are not necessarily demonic activity. For most Christians the most common strongholds they encounter are false ideologies within and without. It is always necessary to deal with what is within you first before you deal what is without.🧐 False ideology along with false doctrines are a pattern of false belief systems that constantly crop up in dealing with deliverance. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” I Tim. 4:1.
Doctrines of Demons
People coming out of false religions or false versions of Christianity are constantly needing someone to help them address the spiritual strongholds in their lives. Theses strongholds many times lead to or allow demonic infestation. These spiritual falsehoods that many people have bought into always lead to deterioration and detriment to the individual that holds these. There are other strongholds that stem from Celtic practices and belief that almost always generate demonic infestations. There are also mental strongholds generated from actions, especially addictive behavior, that can open the door to demonic infestation. Addiction to drugs, alcohol, and even porn can invite demonic infestation and require deliverance intervention. But remember the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of these strongholds.
There are also demonic strongholds developed in political ideology that functions under tremendous deception that appears to affect the psyche of its participants. These types of strongholds tend to foster delusion and false perceptions of reality, Effecting even the emotions of its recipients. These are strongholds that require healthy doses of the Spirit of truth to break its strong hold on its captives. (II Thes. 2:11). Faith that produces patience is required in dealing with these latter strongholds, they are ideological in nature and are wrapped in falsehood that is believed to be true. Religions such as Islam and Buddhism function as such. They are ideology rapped in falsehood that is believed to be true. These belief systems can easily by demonic mindsets. Let us pray.
“Holy Fathers, help us begin to tear down spiritual strongholds beginning with ourselves. In Jesus name we pull down walls that prevent the free flow of the Holy Spirit within our own lives. Doctrines that have prevented us from coming into fullness of the Spirit. We renounce them and expose them to the light of Heaven. Reveal every falsehood we have bought into to try to comfort ourselves for not coming into the light. We strip back in the name of Jesus every thought and imagination the withholds your Glory from filling our existence. And we lay aside every weight and sin tat so easily besets us seeing the author and finisher of our faith. In Jesus name… Amen! Pastor Rusty
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Image created by Belinda with Microsoft AI

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