The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners...
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In the Bible “Strongholds” can be good;
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And they can be bad;
You have broken through all his walls and
reduced his strongholds to ruins.
This teaching focuses on the negative aspects of
“Strongholds.”
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Here are two secular definitions for the word “Stronghold:”
A place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.
or
A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld.
New Oxford American Dictionary
Here is a Scriptural definition for “Negative Strongholds:”
A mindset that a
ccepts as unchangeable conditions that are contrary to God’s will and scripture.
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What is the simplest way that we can define what a “Stronghold” within us is:
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Strongholds are made up of
“LIES”
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Strongholds
are lies that we believe and most often lies about our God and also ourselves.
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A little bit about “Lies:“
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Lies are a deception, and according to the Wikipedia dictionary:
A deception is the act of convincing another
to believe information that is not true, or
not the whole truth as in certain types of half-truths.
Where do lies originate?
According to Jesus, He Himself calls Satan the “father of lies.” It’s in John 8 where He says:
“…there is no truth in him.
When he lies,
he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
And today, because of Jesus’ victory on the cross, a victory over sin and death, “lies” are the only weapon Satan and his demons have left to use against us. And Neil T. Anderson says:
Lies keep us in bondage,
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For as the contents for concrete is cement and water and the finished substance is as hard as a rock, the ingredients for “Strongholds” within us are “lies” mixed into our belief system. That is what the ingredients, the strength, of a stronghold is, “Lies” and these “lies” reside deep within our hearts.
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Concerning “lies,” Bill Johnson says:
“If you believe a lie, you give that lie power.”
and
you will live out the consequences that, that lie produces,
which is – all lies produce death.
When a lie has power, it becomes a “stronghold” within us and we believe and obey whatever that lie tells us because that lie becomes truth to us. And no one can convince us otherwise, (no one, that is, except Jesus).
Example:
My “Mind”
will tell me pornography is a sin of idolatry
yet
My “Heart,”
if deceived by it,
will want to turn to it for erotic comfort and pleasure.
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My “Mind”
will tell me it is evil, and
its only purpose is to destroy me,
yet
“My “Heart,”
tells me it is the only place
I can experience the acceptance I hunger and long for.
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My “Mind”
tells me,
viewing it is an offence against God,
yet, within
“My “Heart,”
I allow a door to remain open to it.
The reality is, the “sin” could be anything –
substance abuse,
abuse of food,
unhealthy relationships,
anything.
So, as a Christian, I have been taught to
“deny that sin”
to “avoid it”
to “abstain from it”
with my will power.
Yet, “WILL-POWER” up against a “HUNGRY AND LONGING HEART” loses out every time.
As Mother Theresa said:
“The Hunger For Love
Is Much More Difficult To Remove
Than The Hunger For Bread.”
So it seems that I have a “mind” that is a very Christian “mind” but my “heart” has the “Walls of Jericho” still in place around
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Now for us who embrace any kind of lust within our hearts and have a relationship with our Father God, it is apparent that we have a war within our souls. And it is in Romans 8:5 where we see the two opposing sides:
The “sin nature” and “the Spirit.”
The war between them often looks something like this:
Sinning – Repenting – Sinning – Repenting – Sinning – Repenting
In the book of James – James clearly shows us that we are held personally responsible for all that takes place within our own soul. He twice calls us “double minded,” in James 1:8 and James 4:8. Let me explain where the responsibility lies:
Is lust sin?
Yes!
Can it turn into a stronghold within our lives?
Yes!
Now, is pornography sin?
Yes!
Can it turn into a stronghold within our lives?
Yes!
Experts tell us that lust within our hearts is like a narcotic, for it can be;
“Mood Altering.”
Now, add the viewing of pornography and you radically enhance that “Mood Altering” experience. So much so that the experts call pornography;
“The Crack-Cocaine Of The Internet.”
Therefore, both “lust” and “pornography” can in and of themselves become strongholds (this is true for habitual masturbation also.) And again, we are held personally responsible for all that takes place within our own soul. But, once these two strongholds are broken within our lives, it becomes quickly apparent that we turned to them for their “Mood-Altering” experience to cover the deeper pain within our deep hearts.
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