Tag: Breaking Down Strongholds

⁸ And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. ⁹ I will be a pledge of his safety. From my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.” ~ Genesis 43:8-9^ESV

Sometimes it feels like we’ll never be able to make up for the wrong that we’ve done, but God always makes a way for us. Reuben (the eldest) was the firstborn and the first to offer to take Benjamin (the youngest) to Egypt under his watch, but Jacob (their father) told him no. It wasn’t until Judah promised to watch him that Jacob agreed to allow Benjamin to go to Egypt so that they could buy grain. Why is that so significant?

It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph into slavery. If Judah had never come up with the idea to sell Joseph, then they probably would’ve just left him in the pit, and Reuben would’ve been able to save him and bring him back to their father. Judah’s hatred for his brother was his downfall, but it wasn’t his destruction. We all make mistakes. All of us have regrets, but if we repent and can learn from them and grow, God will give us a way to redeem ourselves. Whether it’s helping someone going through the same thing or in another way, God always gives us the opportunity.

Judah not only was able to take Benjamin safely to Egypt, but when Joseph tested him, unknowingly, he was willing to take Benjamin’s place and punishment. He had learned from his past actions and had overcome that root of rejection and envy that had a hold on him. That caused him to betray his baby brother and his father.

Think about a regret you have in your life, dig until you find the root, and then set it before the LORD. He already paid your debt; He’s just waiting for you to come to Him with your burden. Then once you have repented and have given Him your burden, learn and help someone else.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Repent, Learn, and Help.

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² A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. ~ Proverbs 18:2

In the Church today, one of our biggest strongholds is pride. We value our own thoughts and opinions over the Truth and Wisdom of God. So, when we are corrected, we feel personally attacked by the correction. This is because we’ve made it about us and what we think is right, instead of about God and what He knows is right. When we do this become like fools because our own understanding and wisdom could never even compete with the ‘foolishness’ of God.

God doesn’t always speak to us directly; He uses us to teach each other. When you’re corrected by God, it’s most likely not going to be face to face on a mountain like Moses or with a sword blocking the path as He did to Balaam. God will most likely use a fellow Christian to correct you. Why? Because iron sharpens iron. We help each other grow in the Spirit. If one person knew and understood everything, then we wouldn’t be the body of Christ. A body cannot function with just one body part. It needs the full system to function properly and accurately.

So, the next time you’re corrected, don’t feel attacked. Don’t get upset and offended. Instead, seek the wisdom of God and search through Scripture to make sure that they are speaking the Truth. Don’t let pride keep you from growing in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Grow in Christ Jesus.

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⁹ Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. ~ Proverbs 9:9

In our society today, we take correction personally. It’s almost as if the person correcting us is coming after us directly instead of trying to help us grow in Christ. The reason we’re offended by correction is because of one of the strongest strongholds, pride. Pride blinds us to the truth of situations and keeps us stuck where we are never able to move forward.

Jesus said, ‘Blessed is he who isn’t offended by me.’ Jesus was the ultimate corrector. It wasn’t because He wanted to call people out on their ignorance; it was because He wanted and still wants us to continue to grow in wisdom and understanding. He wants us to go from glory to glory.

Look at what the verse says again, The wise man who receives instruction becomes more wise. Just because the wise man received instruction, it didn’t mean he was no longer wise; in fact, it made him the more wiser. The wise man was wise not because he knew and understood much but because he could take instruction and continue to grow. So, when someone gives you instruction or correction, accept it and grow. Don’t allow pride to keep you from the next level of glory God has in store for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Accept Instruction.

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¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life. ~ 1 Timothy 1:16

Often times when we look at people, we measure their worth based on our flawed beliefs and feelings. We see certain sinners as undeserving of forgiveness because we don’t fully understand the love of God. God’s love shows no partiality. We’re all sinners. We’ve been shown grace that we might be able to lead others to that same grace.

There’s no such thing as too dirty or too much sin for God to redeem. For where sin is, there is even more grace that we might be saved. God’s love doesn’t work the same way ours does. His love is overwhelming, never-ending, and reckless. He doesn’t care whether He has to risk His own life to save us. His only goal is to save us. That’s why there is no sin too great for Him to forgive. He already gave Himself so that we could be saved, regardless of how far we’ve strayed or what we’ve done. His desire is that we might have eternal life.

So, no matter how lowly we think of someone, God sees worth beyond compare. He didn’t die for the righteous; He died for sinners. That includes all sinners, even those we don’t see as worth saving. They’re worth it to God. So, no matter the sin, always share the love of God wherever you go in the hope that all might come to the acceptance of Christ.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Share The Love of God.

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²⁸ Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ ²⁹ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. ³⁰ The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ ³² Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God, ³³ who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go. ~ Deuteronomy 1:28-33

Within each territory, there are Territorial Spirits; there are strongholds that keep its victims in generational curses. The people of Israel were no different. They were a chosen people that God Himself spoke to and led, yet the strongholds of the land still called to them. It’s easy to follow God when He’s present and active, but the moment we feel God is taking too long or that He’s too quiet, we revert to our old selves. We return to the strongholds of our ancestors. We turn to the gods of the land that seem to be present and mighty. That seem to be giving their worshippers their hearts desires. But when we turn from God to another, we miss out on the blessings God has for us.

The Israelites missed out on blessing after blessing because they gave into the strongholds of the land. They never overcame the places above each and every stronghold because of Christ Jesus. And because the Holy Spirit dwells in us and the blood of Jesus covers us, we can tear down any stronghold in the name of Jesus. Nothing can stop the people of God unless we allow it to.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Break Faith.

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⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶ I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ~ 2 Corinthians 13:5-6

Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to examine themselves. We don’t often do this in our society today. We push sayings like, ‘accept me for me,’ ‘don’t change for anyone,’ ‘this is just the way I am,’ and in doing so, we never grow. I’m not saying that we should become a completely different person so someone will like us, but we must become completely different from our sinful nature so that we may become one with Christ.

Every New Year, we set goals and resolutions that we want to reach in the New Year, so why not take the time this New Year to spiritually evaluate yourselves as Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers to do so long ago.

Take some time to evaluate and reevaluate your life and who you have become. Do some soul searching to see if who you are matches who God originally created you to be. Evaluate your reaction to things and situations. Do an honest self-examination every other day or at least once a week to see if you are growing. Compare your life and your decisions to the Biblical standard God has raised for each and every one of us.

Ask yourself honest questions:

How do you deal with stressful situations?
How are you handling tense situations?
Have you let go of the past?
Are you holding any grudges?
Do you return an eye for an eye?
Did you react with a Christ-like attitude?

You won’t magically change overnight, but by the grace of God, you will change by the constant renewal of your mind. Make a conscious effort to not allow the things that angered you last year to anger you this year. Believe that the things that flustered you last year, you have now overcome and conquered this year. For the God that has all things under His feet resides in you.

LORD God, help me to strengthen my weak points. Help me to guard my thoughts and words so that my actions may be pleasing and acceptable to You. Help me to always remember that I have become the Temple of the Living God the day that I accepted You, LORD Jesus, as LORD of my life. Help me to move forward in this New Year and to grow spiritually, emotionally, and physically in You. In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

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¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

This is the time many people are making their New Year’s Resolution and making New Year’s plans and promises. Well, we have a New Year promise from Jesus.

The old has passed away and behold, the new has come.

I would encourage you to put that on your New Year’s resolution list. I will put off the old and put on the new. I will not let those things that tripped me up last year, to trip me up this year.

I will not stumble over the same things that I’ve been stumbling over in the past. I will not let anger, grief, lust, etc., get the best of me, for the old has passed away, and the new has come.

Thank you, Father, for giving me a new start. Help me to walk the path of righteousness this year. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.” ~ Mark 9:38-41^NIV

Sometimes we see people doing things that we believe are only for us or that we believe are only for a certain person, so we try to stop them. We try to box them in. We try to keep them from accessing power that we don’t believe they deserve. It’s not even necessarily because we think that what they’re doing is wrong, but because we don’t think it’s right for them to do it.

We see this a lot in the Church today. We see Christians tearing down other Christians because of the gifts and calls that God has given them. But as Jesus Himself said, no one working in the power of God can, in the next moment or next breath, speak against Him. Therefore, even if they aren’t your denomination or you differ on minute issues, if they aren’t against your Jesus and what He stands for, then they are with you. Don’t let the Spirit of Religion get in the way of what God is trying to do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Stop Them.

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² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ~ James 4:2

So many of us expect to receive blessings, help, answered prayers, healing, etc., without asking first. Why do we expect without asking? Is it doubt? Pride? Or is it a false sense of humility? Sometimes we put ourselves in a situation where we don’t want to ask, but instead, we want someone to offer what we’re desiring.

I believe a lot of us are plagued by a spirit of religion telling us that it’s wrong to ask on behalf of ourselves. That’s it wrong to pray for healing, blessings, help for ourselves. But God promised in Matthew 7:7-8 that if we ask, we will receive. Why? Because our Heavenly Father is a good, good Father. He enjoys blessing and giving to His children. This isn’t pride. This isn’t selfishness or evil; this is asking our Father in Heaven for a little of our inheritance.

Healing is the Children’s Bread.

The Peace of God is given to His children.

A Spirit of Power, Love, and a Sound Mind is bestowed upon His followers.

We have not because we ask not. Don’t allow the lies of the enemy to hold you back from receiving a healing, a blessing, an answered prayer. You are worth more than silver or gold to the Creator of the entire Universe. He knows every hair on your head and every burden you carry. He’s waiting for you to take His yoke upon your back, for you will find rest.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Expect With Asking.

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