Hey gals, do you know this fella? Have you met him personally? Do you have an intimate relationship with him? He is a smooth operator, very subtle. He seems to know you intimately, what you like, what you want, how to satisfy that craving. He can distract you, by getting all your attention. Yes, he can be the stronghold over many areas of your life. It’s like before you know it he is in every aspect of your life. Where does he have you locked down? I don’t know about you, but this enemy is always formulating spiritual strongholds in my life. I try not to open up to him, though he can pour it on pretty thick in various ways and schemes.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not ^[a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” Ah, there is that word, ” stronghold”. The only stronghold I choose for my life is God. I’d like to share a few strongholds I was freed from. You probably can relate to a few.

The main one I had to conquer was allowing the enemy to place toxic thoughts in my head, stemming from my heart. For example, if I was wounded by family or friends, I’d dwell on it and tell myself I will stay far away from them and stay to myself. My feelings were hurt and Satan planted the seeds for an unhealthy thought pattern. This leads to an unforgiving spirit. The next one is guilt. I used to sit and think about all the poor choices I made during my entire life, combined with comparing myself to other people. Being single, never married, and no children, what does that look like for my future? Then, there is the issue with my weight, how I look. All of the issues made me depressed. Focusing on all my failures and toxic thinking kept me repeatedly falling into the same sins. This is where the deceiver, our enemy, wanted to keep me.

All of us have constant battlegrounds in our lives. It can be alcohol, drugs, pride, arrogance, manipulations, greed, sexual sin, bitterness, anger, lying, spending money, unforgiveness, anxiety, procrastination, laziness, etc. All of these issues can be strongholds in our lives, hindering us from our blessings and how God wants to use us. When I bought into the lies of the enemy, I gave him the power and control. Spiritual warfare ain’t no joke, but we can have victory by the power of Christ, Jesus.

It is the truth of God’s Word that freed me from the strongholds. 2 Corinthians 4:4, if Satan’s strategy is to blind the eyes of the unbeliever then his strategy in the life of those who believe and trust in Christ is to confuse, frustrate, and even steal the truth of God that has been taught and preached. It was not until I spent more time studying God’s Word that I realized the root of my problems. Hebrews 5:14 “But strong meat belongeth to those who are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Staying in God’s Word, you can claim victory over those strongholds. This is why we must be focused or as the scriptures state “be sober-minded”; 1 Peter 5:8-9. We need to discern the spirits. 1 John 4:1-6 ESV, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this, you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. …

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, The apostle Paul gives us an example when he chastised the Corinthian church for not addressing the sin of fornication, (a stronghold). Paul did not use fleshly wisdom or human abilities. He used spiritual guidance and wisdom from above. God’s weapons are spiritual. The Word of God and prayer are the only effective weapons in this battle against Satan (Acts 6:4). Paul relied on divine power and so can we. Too often I get busy and have to slow down and remind myself to stop viewing my circumstances with the natural mind. When I do that I am not able to bring down my strongholds. When I view it in the spiritual realm, I have peace because I trust Jesus to take on the battle.

When I think of all the ways the Father has helped and blessed me in my life how can I not trust Him. One thing I know, when I need help, I go to the Guide who knows me, my past, present, and future, and whom I trust. He is the Holy Spirit. He knows God’s plan for my life and what is best for me. The holy scriptures say “He will guide us into all truth.” John 16:13 He will point me toward what Jesus will have me to do. The challenge is obedience and doing it consistently. I know when I am slacking because my peace is disrupted, I am anxious. and about to do something dumb. In other words, I begin to take charge of myself, rather than relinquishing control to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In our world today, the church, the body of Christ has lost its savor and our ights are dim. We have accepted the lies that the sins you’re in is okay. We’re too comfortable with our strongholds. This is why the title of the blog asked “Or do you care.” It’s time to push the reset button and get back to the fundamental truths of God’s Word. Some of the things we can do to tear down the strongholds are to forgive, don’t feed into the lies of the enemy and his demons, write down what you constantly struggle with, and commit it to God in prayer believing in faith for deliverance, share with a prayer partner, don’t be shy or ashamed to ask for help. We have the greatest Helper of all time, who I rely upon. I ask the Holy Spirit to give me daily guidance and counsel, to help me walk in the ways of the Lord, and to make wise choices. I trust Him to help me pursue my emotional health and strength by bringing my emotional life into harmony with my spiritual life. I am not saying it is easy, but it can be done if you’re willing to lay it down. It is time to stop dealing with things on the surface. We must go deeper. I was lead to write this blog. The Spirit spoke to me to share this, because of how He walked me through and delivered me from some pretty big strongholds. Boy it feels good to be loosed from those shackles.

Ladies, be encouraged, God is not through with us yet. It is times like right now, we need to be encouraged, lean on one another, pray together, love one another, and let our light shine. Yes, we mess up, but His mercies are new every morning. The world needs to know there is hope in the Person of Jesus, The Christ. and they need to see it in and through us.

His love never fails. I pray this blog will bless and motivate you to go deeper, deal with those strongholds so God may bless and use you for the work He has called you to do. God, bless1.