Category: Breaking Down Strongholds

Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ~ II Corinthians 3:12-16 NKJV

⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ~ Colossians 2:8 NKJV

I remember watching “Forbidden Kingdom” as a child, and one of the scenes Jackie Chan is trying to get the nation character to empty his spiritual Kung Fu cup. Why? Because he had watched so many Kung Fu movies that he thought he knew so much and therefore became a difficult student to teach. The Church today is much like that main character.

We have a lot of Church tradition knowledge, not necessarily Bible knowledge. Because of that, it’s difficult to actually learn what the Bible says and understand its true teachings. Paul said those under the Law have a blinder over their eyes until they come to Christ and the blinder is removed. Christians today have a doctrinal blinder over their eyes keeping them from understanding the Bible when they read it. Not because it’s too deep, too complex, too difficult to understand, but simply because they have a preconceived notion, idea, thought, belief in their mind that keeps them blinded. It keeps them from seeing the Truth of Scripture.

So, what are we to do? We have to empty our cup of doctrine and tradition, so that when we read our Bible, we comprehend, understand, and see what the Truth of God is. So that we aren’t blinded by the veil of doctrine or tradition. Here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter what a pastor, teacher, “prophet” or anyone of the sort says, it matters what the Bible says. We don’t need our beliefs grounded in what the early Church fathers taught, we need our beliefs grounded in the Bible. Can their teachings be helpful? Absolutely. But unless their teachings can be found in Scripture, then their teachings are no longer helpful, but harmful. Our faith and our beliefs should be grounded in Scripture, and nothing else, otherwise we are now putting our faith in man. It is now a man-made religion. It is no longer God-ordained.

Therefore, ground yourself in the Word of God. Read it. Learn it. You don’t need to chew on every single verse or you can’t read your Bible. That’s an excuse not to read. That’s an excuse to remain ignorant of Scripture. Yes, we need to study it to understand it. To understand the Deeper things, but we also need to read it to know what it says. Otherwise, anyone who has a little more knowledge than us can lead us astray. Any teaching can sound good and right, unless we read the Scriptures from cover to cover for ourselves.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Empty Your Cup.

²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ~ Luke 14:28-32

I’ve seen so many posts from people who made mistakes when setting up their eBay stores. Their advertising percentage is too high, their shipping has issues, their listings have flaws, and all of these things have cost them a lot of money in sales. And all I can think when I see these posts is, “Why didn’t they do some research before they dove right into reselling?” Before I started, I watched video after video after video, just trying to learn as much as I possibly could from those who are successful in what I wanted to do. I watched their tips, tricks, things they would’ve done differently, and ways they messed up. I watched so many videos that even my family members started learning stuff by default because it’s all I watched. I didn’t just jump into anything; I needed to know what I was getting myself into. How to set myself up as best as I possibly could.

See, in life, we can’t just dive straight into everything without first at least checking the water. It’s not always because we’re not good at something or because the enemy is just attacking us. Sometimes, we are our own biggest obstacle. We have to first learn to crawl before we can learn to walk, and then one day we’ll be running. Yes, the LORD is for you, but you also have to do your part. So don’t just dive into any and everything without first, at the very least, researching the very basics.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and First Look At The Water.

⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰ And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. ¹² Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. ~ 2 Kings 5:9-14

Sometimes worship doesn’t heal the wounds; sometimes worship does the opposite. It deepens them. When we pray, when we worship, we expect an immediate healing every single time. A quick fix so we can get back to life as usual, but not every wound is fixed by one prayer and worship session. Sometimes that one session opens the wound deeper, not because God is cruel or the wound is too great for Him, but because God is getting to the root of your wound. Sometimes, there’s something bigger, something deeper going on that we don’t even see or realize. Something buried so deep it’s become hidden from our conscious mind. So, it takes God digging deeper in us to reveal all that’s holding us back. All that’s keeping us from moving forward in life.

So, what are we to do? We keep peeling back the layers. One prayer. One worship session at a time. We dig and dig until we get to the root of the wound. The root of the hurt. The root of the pain. And once we get to the root of all of these things, that’s where we’ll find peace. That’s where we’ll find our solace. That’s where we’ll find our healing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Him Dig Deeper.

²⁰ But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²² Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³ and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴ But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. ~ Revelation 2:20-24

From the very beginning of time, mankind has sought to know things that do not belong to them. Things that they have no right to know, and it has gotten us in trouble each and every time. From the Garden of Eden, we have been tempted with the secret things by Satan. We desire to know things that we feel have been hidden from us that we think we should be able to know. Eve desired to be wise like God in order to obtain forbidden knowledge, and we all judge her for it. We point out all of the other fruit she could have eaten. The Tree of Life was right there next to it in the middle of the Garden, yet she chose the forbidden tree. We want what we feel we deserve to know/have.

Today’s Church is no different. Today, instead of a forbidden tree promising forbidden knowledge, we seek ‘forbidden’ books with ‘forbidden’ knowledge. Books that people claim were taken out of the Bible, such as the Book of Enoch and the Gnostic Gospels, including The Gospel of Thomas, Mary, and Philip. Like the Apocrypha: Tobit, Sirach, Judith, Baruch, etc. We seek what we believe has been kept hidden from us. We seek secret knowledge. Each time I see someone pushing these books, maybe not all of them, but some of them, it’s always someone who has read these and studied these, but not the Bible. They focused on these books instead of the books given to us by the LORD God Himself. Why? Secret Knowledge.

The Church in Thyatira was chastised by the LORD Jesus Himself because they tolerated that woman Jezebel who claimed to hear from God, allowing/pushing eating food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality. Teachings that they began to call the deep things of Satan. They held to teachings that were forbidden because they sought what they felt was being kept from them, just like we do today with these ‘forbidden’ books. Why do we do this? Paul said:

⁷ Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” ⁸ But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. ⁹ At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, ¹⁰ and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. ¹¹ Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me.

Romans 7:7-11

The enemy doesn’t have to force us to do anything. All he has to do is present lies to us as something that has been kept secret from us. Not everything is good for us. There is a reason these books were not included in the Canon of Scripture: not because of secret knowledge or to keep us ignorant, but because of outright lies and contradictions to Scripture, the Word of God. These things would be easily seen by those who read them, if they were first grounded in Truth and desired it. God has given us 66 books that explain the Truth and give life to mankind. What could those books that contradict God’s Word give us other than death? Therefore, don’t be seduced by the promise of forbidden knowledge, a higher understanding, or some deep teaching promising hidden secrets to be revealed. The LORD has already revealed to man an entire Garden of good fruit; why would you sacrifice all of that for one forbidden tree that only causes death?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Avoid The Thyatira Stumbling Block.

⁸ Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath ~ Proverbs 29:8

Solomon said that a city is set aflame by scoffers, but wise men turn away wrath. In other words, scoffers—those who mock God’s wisdom and stir up strife—agitate a city until neighbors become enemies and communities begin to tear themselves apart. Because where scoffers dominate, communities eventually suffer. Businesses close, families move away, and neighborhoods deteriorate because strife always destroys what wisdom seeks to build.

We have all watched tragic events become occasions for anger, destruction, looting, and violence. Instead of seeking justice through wisdom, many choose revenge, and entire communities suffer. Solomon’s words are just as true today as when he first wrote them: scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.

In Proverbs 11:11, Solomon went on to say:

¹¹ By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted,
But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

A city is exalted by the blessing of the upright, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. So, who is the scoffer but the wicked person? The one who does not know, nor do they acknowledge God in their hearts. Yes, they may honor Him with their lips, but their hearts, the part that counts the most, is far from Him. Businesses have had to relocate and close doors in some places because of the wickedness of scoffers, and move to a city that is blessed by the righteous. There is too much destruction in that city. They want total anarchy. They want the police defunded. They want what is not theirs, and to do as they please because they are entitled to it.

On the other hand, the wise do not answer evil with evil. Rather than responding with violence and vengeance, they seek peace, forgiveness, and justice God’s way. There is no taking to the streets in a blind rage to burn and loot and destroy. But instead, spontaneous worship breaks out. People begin to ask questions about God and His kingdom. People begin to return to church and seek God once again. That’s the difference between a scoffer and the wise. One turns to hate and violence, while the other turns the other cheek and seeks love and forgiveness.

Maybe the next time something doesn’t go your way, or you feel you have been wronged, you should evaluate your response and ask, “Am I responding like a scoffer, or am I responding like the wise?” Seek wisdom. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, so seek first the LORD God Almighty and His kingdom. Allow His Holy Spirit to order your steps and so direct your paths, and everything else will fall into place.

Father, help me to make the right decisions. Help me to act wisely and not like a scoffer. Give me strength and endurance to seek You and Your kingdom first, that I might stick to the course that You have planned for me, and that I will be a blessing to the city and community in which I live, and not set my city aflame, in Jesus’ Name, I pray, amen.