Tag: Breaking Down Strongholds

⁵ Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude ~ Psalms 32:5^NLT

So many of us are walking in shame and guilt because of what we’ve done. We know that God can forgive all sins, but yet part of us feels as if He can’t forgive our sin because we maybe we can’t forgive ourselves. So shame and guilt creep into our hearts, and they take over, trying to keep us in our past. God, on the other hand, is calling us out of the dark pit of shame and guilt. He’s reaching out His hand for us to come to Him, and He might clothe us in righteousness. So how do we reach out and take His hand? We confess our sins to Him.

See, God already knows everything about us. He knows our thoughts, desires, and even the things we don’t know about ourselves. God knows all that we’ve done wrong and all that we’ve done right. So, to confess to God is to confide in Him and ask Him for help. Because when we confess, we are shining light in the darkness. And where there is light, shame and guilt cannot abound.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Confess Into The Light.

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⁶ Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. ~ Isaiah 58:6-8

So many of us desire to see the glory of the LORD but have no idea how to achieve this desire. According to Isaiah, one way is to break down the strongholds of not only us but also those around us. We are to be the light in a dark world because we have the light of the world living in us and through us. Therefore, our actions should match His actions and His heart. And His heart is to break every stronghold from the back of all people willing to allow Him to.

As we live in the world, it’s easy to get caught up in the world and the desires of the world. While the world seeks to only benefit itself, God seeks to benefit all; this is what we must desire as well. The moment we begin to work to build up the Kingdom of God, which includes breaking the strongholds of others so that they may see the goodness of God, then we will begin to see blessings pour in and our prayers answered. By breaking down the strongholds of others, we are breaking down the spiritual strongholds that hold us back. Every physical action we make has a spiritual consequence, whether bad or good.

So, if you are having a spiritual blockade in your prayer life or you’re not seeing the mighty hand of God move in your life, try moving the physical blockades of others. God always rewards those who do His good and perfect will.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give To See.

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²⁴ One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. ~ Proverbs 11:24

Many of us walk past beggars on the street and don’t even consider giving them a dollar or two. When asked about rounding up our bill at check out and donating it to a children’s hospital or another nonprofit organization, we decline. A lot of us have become stingy with our money. Many of us say it’s because you can’t trust people, and the homeless will probably spend it on drugs or alcohol, and the organization probably doesn’t actually help anyone. But what is a few cents or a dollar?

It’s not up to you what they do with the dollar or cents you give them; that’s not your place. Your place is to give in faith that they will use the money you’ve given them to help themselves/others. You can even pray over the money before you give it or as you’re giving it that it might be used for good and not evil. For all you know, that dollar or couple cents might just be the exact amount they need to change their lives or another’s. Yes, a dollar can change a life. Yes, a couple of cents can make a difference. If it does nothing but give someone hope, then how can you put a price on that? Sometimes hope is the very thing needed to save another’s life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Hesitate To Give.

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⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Paul said that the LORD allowed a messenger of Satan to harass him. Paul never defines what the spirit that harassed him was, but many in the Church have made assumptions and theological guesses of what they could have been. The only problem is, we’ll never truly know what it was Paul was struggling with, so should we even debate over what it could have been? Could there be a bigger reason Paul kept what they were from us?

Paul is arguably the greatest apostle who ever lived; each letter he wrote was dictated to him by God Himself, so would there not be a reason to keep this hidden from us? Could it be that Paul left it to our imagination that we might insert our own struggle and have hope? Think about it: if Paul told us what the spirit tormenting him was, it would be more difficult for us to put ourselves in his shoes if we didn’t struggle with the spirit he did. Could it be that Paul was allowing us to have hope through the possibility that Paul not only struggled with the same spirit or sin that we do, but he was able to still be used by God? He was still able to be the greatest apostle who ever lived. He was still able to receive revelation after revelation.

Here’s what I’m getting at, it doesn’t matter what you struggle with. There is no sin that isn’t common to man. There is no sin that God cannot overcome and still use you. You are not your sin. Don’t allow what you struggle with to dictate your life and your self-worth. You are more precious than silver and gold. You have been bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So, don’t allow other people’s opinions of who God can use to keep you from allowing God to use you. Keep fighting the good fight. If you fall down, get back up. Don’t stay in your sin; actively fight it. It may not be overcome overnight, but always remember His grace is sufficient for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cling To His Grace.

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¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. ~ Romans 8:16–17

There is a really popular saying, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” My question is, is that what the Holy Spirit of God Himself bearing witness with your spirit, ‘that you’re just a sinner saved by grace?’ Or is He bearing witness that you have been, saved, changed, and set apart? Is He bearing witness that you are a new creation and the old is gone, dead, no more? If the old man is dead, how is it that you claim he is still alive in you? If you identify as “a sinner saved by grace,” will you not act like a sinner saved by grace?

The reality is, the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then we are also heirs of God. But not just that, we are joint-heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with Him. Now, which sinner has Christ ever said, “Come, you are now a joint heir with me.” Let me tell you, none! He has never said that to a sinner, only a man or woman, or child of God.

Do not let someone else’s view of themselves be your view of you. You are a saint, a child of God, the blood-bought, the redeemed. You are no longer a sinner but a saint, and if you see yourself as a saint, you will act like a saint. Likewise, if you see yourself as a sinner, you will act like a sinner. Redefine who you are in Christ today.

Father, give us Your eyes to see. Give us Your ears to hear. Give us Your heart to love, that we might be rightly called children of the Most High God. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

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³ In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. ⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. ~ Galatians 4:3-7

The whole human race was enslaved to the principles of this world. In other words, we were slaves to sin. When the right time had come, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born into this world with the goal of overcoming this world in order to set us free from this world. Now we are no longer slaves to sin and to this world, but now we are sons and daughters of the LORD God Most High.

We have been liberated from the world and from our sins. In other words, we have been liberated. We are free to serve the LORD God in all of His glory. It is our Independence Day, for now, the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts and gives us not only the ability but the authority to cry Abba Father, which would be the English equivalent of saying, Daddy.

God is now our daddy, and we are His children, free to worship. Free to praise. Free to choose whatever we feel to choose. Happy Independence Day week.

Father, thank you for Your love and Your concern for me. So much so that you died on the cross to free me from sin and from the grasp of this world. Help me not to take advantage of Your love and take Your grace for granted. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ~ Galatians 5:13

Paul writes, “you were called to freedom.” My question is, why are we choosing bondage? Do you not know? Do you not understand that the one you serve is your master? If you serve the sin and the forces of darkness, you are a slave to the darkness. But if you choose Jesus and serve Him, He will break the chains and liberate you.

All you have to do is to ask, and Jesus will free you whatever is binding you or holding you from your freedom. This Independence Day, let us think about real freedom. Consider what it really means to be free and choose the free life.

Father, please help us to understand true freedom and to choose and live in that freedom. Open our spiritual eyes to see and understand. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

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¹ Now the Angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,’” ~ Judges 2:1^ESV

The Angel of the LORD (Jesus) went before the people of Israel and brought them out of the land of Egypt. He brought them out of the house of slavery and into a land He had promised them. He led them to a land that He would cleanse on their behalf so that they might be free, but the people became complacent in their own sin and the sin of the land. They became comfortable in the darkness and no longer sought the light. Today, we are no different.

Jesus brought us out of the house of slavery and freed us from all sin, yet we choose to dwell in certain strongholds. And just like the Israelites of old, the strongholds pull us back into spiritual, mental, and emotional slavery. Sure whom the Son sets free is free indeed, but whom the Son sets free must not freely return to a yoke of slavery, or he will no longer be free. Don’t allow the strongholds of this world to keep you from the freedom Christ Jesus is offering you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose Freedom.

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⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ~ Genesis 3:8-10

A lot of us are like Adam and Eve. The LORD gave us instructions, a plan, and all that we could ever need, and yet we desire that forbidden fruit that leads only to death. When we give into temptation, we give birth to shame and fear that then takes root in our lives. God had no intention for mankind to be plagued with fear or shame. It wasn’t a part of God’s plan, yet because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve welcomed in the spirit of fear. God even assures us, through the Apostle Paul, that He did not give us a spirit of fear.

Just because God has good things planned for you doesn’t mean that you will see those good things. God planned for everlasting life for Adam and Eve, but they never knew what it was like not to die. God never set in His plan for man to die, yet both Adam, his wife, and all of their descendants have/will taste death. Our actions dictate what comes into our lives. Whether we obey or disobey will be the deciding factor for whether or not we will receive blessings or curses. Our lives are literally in our own hands. Each one of us writes our own stories, we can either allow God to guide us or we can forge a path for ourselves. We can either choose life or choose death, so choose wisely.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch What You Invite Into Your Life.

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