Tag: Breaking Down Strongholds

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In Return

39 Those who passed by were yelling insults at Him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”  ~ Matthew 27:39-40 CSB

Jesus was hanging on the cross. His body had been flogged and beaten unrecognizable. He was so weak He couldn’t even carry His own cross. A crown of thorns was pushed into His skull and beaten with a staff. Now, He was hanging on the cross struggling to breathe. Each breath is painful. And now those passing by are mocking and ridiculing Him.

They’re not just hurling insults at Him, they’re now taking what He said and twisting it and throwing it back at Him. Imagine it, these are the very people Jesus had come to save that are twisting His words and throwing them back at Him. He could have easily come down off of that cross shown them exactly what He had said that they were twisting, but He didn’t. He stayed on that cross and took every insult. Every lie. And then prayed for them.

Imagine that. Praying for those tormenting you because you love them. You know that if you get down off of that cross or even try to defend yourself, it’s over. So, you remain silent. You take the harsh words and hate. Then when you speak, you pray for them.

Dear LORD, please help me to love the way You loves. Help me to not return anger and hate with more anger and hate. Help me to love. Help me to bless when people curse me. Help me to pray for those who persecute me. Help me to remain silent when attacked. Help me to be more like You and less like me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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God Planned It For Good

20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result — the survival of many people. ~ Genesis 50:20CSB

Joseph’s brothers had sold him into slavery and then deceived his father and their father into believing that he was torn to bits and killed by some wild animal. They had no pity on him, even though he begged and pleaded with them for his life.

Can you imagine a more horrendous situation to be in? Not only did the ones who are supposed to love you and protect you betray you, but they sold you into slavery. That’s like, in our day, to sell your sister into the sex trade industry. The words that she would feel are indescribable. A wrong that is hard to make right. A sin that is hard to forgive. Yet Joseph said, you did it with evil intents, but God did it for God.

Imagine being that close to God that you can see the good in everything that happens, no matter how awful it really is. Even if it is the worst thing that could happen to you, understand that God never meant it for evil but for good for the majority. And then, depending on your reaction to the situation, will determine which seeds you will sow, whether good seed or bad seed, because the fruit depends on the seed. Bad seed, bad fruit. Good seed, good fruit.

The key is to determine beforehand how you will react to the situation that you are thrown into. Always know that it is never God’s intention to harm you or to make you suffer loss. We live in a broken world filled with evil men and women who have no regard for life or for the things of God, but know this: God is always looking out for your good.

Father, help me to look for the good in every situation. Help me to not hold wrongs against those who have done me wrong. Help me to sow good seed that I might reap good fruit. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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The Comfort of Promises

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

One of the most cliché verses to quote when someone dies is from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. He told us that we don’t grieve the way that the rest of the world grieves because we know that one day, we will see them again. The problem is that though these words should comfort us, the majority of the time, they don’t. At least it doesn’t comfort me. When you lose a loved one that you’re close to, it almost feels like you lose part of yourself as well.

These words should be very encouraging and comforting to us, but they’re not because our focus isn’t fully on eternity but on the temporary. We don’t know how short this life is. We don’t realize that these few days on this earth without those loved ones who’ve gone on ahead of us will feel like a blink of an eye compared to the joyous eternity we will spend with them.

Dear LORD, please help me to focus my eyes on the joy of eternity instead of the grief that tries to consume me. Please fill me with Your everlasting peace and love. Please comfort us and teach us to encourage ourselves in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Watch How You Charge

9b …if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ~ Romans 10:9

Words aren’t empty. Every time we speak, we’re charging the air. Our words are either life or death. With our words, we confess and receive our forgiveness. With our words, we pray and draw close to the LORD. Words are the most versatile armament known to man. For with it:

  • We can bless or curse
  • We can build up or tear down
  • We can create or destroy
  • We can heal or kill
  • We can encourage or discourage

Therefore, we must be very careful how we wield our weapon of words because we can wield that same weapon against ourselves. This is why we watch our thoughts. This is why we bite our tongues. This is why we lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus so that when we speak, it’s only life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch How You Charge.

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Don’t Be The One Hit

12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” ~ Matthew 15:12

Have you ever heard the maxim, “Throw a stone in the pigpen, and the one that squeals is the one the stone hit?” When you speak truth, and someone is offended, that means that the person offended knows that they aren’t living their lives in accordance with the Word of God. If you tell someone that you disagree with a certain action or lifestyle and they are offended, then they, in some way, are connected to that action or lifestyle, and they know deep down that you are right.

The only reason someone is offended is if they are the one who was hit by the stone that was thrown. You may say, oh, but brother Kenny, maybe they are sympathetic to the cause. If you identify with the cause, you are a partaker in the cause; thus, you suffer or celebrate as the cause suffers or celebrates. Which means, “You’re one with the cause; the cause is with you.”

Truth should never offend; it should only set free. Facts should never offend; they should only educate. If you are an easily offended person, then you should examine yourself and ask yourself why you’re offended so easily. Is it because you have a spirit of rejection? Is it because you’re prideful? Is it because you’re living in sin, and you know that it’s wrong?

The Truth can only stop being offensive when you accept it, believe it, and let it set you free.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be The One Hit.

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The Tongue’s Power

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. ~ Proverbs 18:21

The tongue has the power to speak life or to speak death. That’s a very frightening thought, if you think about it, that our tongues hold that much power. I want you to stop and think about what I just said for just a moment. Our words are life, and they are death, and people throw words around as if they count for very little or for nothing.

People will let words like:

  • I will never succeed
  • I can’t do anything right
  • I will never make friends
  • I am a born loser
  • I will never get over this sickness
  • This is killing me

Just roll off their tongue as if it was water on a duck’s back, so to speak, without us even thinking about it. Listen, you don’t have to know it in order to speak it into being.

Words are alive because they are breath, which is spirit. Therefore, words will never die. That’s why the words of our prayers can come up before God as a memorial years after they have been spoken.

That’s also why the prayers of:

  • The saints long dead
  • Grandmothers
  • Grandfathers
  • Parents
  • Holy men and women of God

Will come to pass eventually because they are words that were spoken.

On the flip side, that is the same reason why curses, also known as generational curses, can plague generation after generation after generation because words have the power of life or death, and if they are life or death, that means they do not die, but they can be canceled.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for every careless word I’ve spoken about myself or other people. Please cancel each and every curse I’ve spoken, whether out of anger or idle talk, in the mighty name of Jesus. Please let life be the words I speak out of my mouth instead of death. Let my words be holy and pleasing to You, LORD God. Bridle my tongue. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Transformed

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~ Romans 12:2

When you are born again, that is, when you first accept Jesus as LORD and Savior of your life and become a Christian or a Christ-follower, you don’t automatically know the will of God. The will of God is not somehow automatically downloaded. It must be developed.

The word “test” is a verb meaning to try so as to certify or to make certain of the genuine, trustworthy will of God. The same word can be used for a person who is said to have been tested in battle. So, why is it necessary to renew your mind?

Well, the easy answer is so that you can be transformed. But what does that mean, to be transformed? It simply means not to let yourself be forced into the mold of society’s ever-changing standards, values, and morals.

In short, Paul is saying, “Do not let society shape your behavior or your way of thinking.” Society, or culture has a way of pressuring its populace into validating its morals and ethics by forcing them to accept in their minds and confirm with their actions society’s version of right and wrong.

Dear LORD, please transform me by renewing my mind. Give me the strength to cast down thoughts that aren’t of You. Fill me with discernment so that I might know the Truth. That I might easily differentiate between right and wrong. Open my eyes so that I might see the Truth, even when the world tries to hide it from me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Combat With Humility

6 But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. ~ James 4:6CSB

Shame enters us when we dwell in sin and are conscious of it. To combat this shame ourselves, we become prideful. We try to justify our own sin and force others to accept and affirm it as well. If anyone protests or disagrees, that shame (fueled by pride) comes to the surface and gives birth to anger.

Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame.

Uncle Iroh

Only when we humble ourselves before the LORD will our sins be washed clean and the power of shame broken within us. Pride gives shame its power, but humility uproots shame and destroys it. Shame cannot stand when we dwell in the perfect love of God that can only be accessed through humbling ourselves before our God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Combat With Humility.

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Don’t Water And Nurture

6 Now Joseph was well-built and handsome. 7 After some time his master’s wife looked longingly at Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” ~ Genesis 39:6b-7CSB

Potiphar’s wife wasn’t filled with lust for Joseph from the moment that she saw him. No. After looking at him longingly for some time, lust overtook her. She didn’t just entertain the thought of being with Joseph; she began to fantasize about it. She began to look for opportunities to bring this fantasy into reality. The Devil planted the seed of lust with one idea, and she watered it and nurtured it until it grew into a full-blown tree. Soon, she couldn’t take it anymore, so she approached Joseph.

If we want to overcome any sin, it starts with controlling our thoughts. It starts with not allowing Satan to plant a single seed of evil but immediately casting down the thought. We have to take control of what thoughts we allow and don’t allow into our minds. We have to fight the good fight starting in the war zone of our minds, for that’s where we will either fail or prevail.

Dear LORD, please forgive me for all the times I gave into wicked thoughts and allowed the enemy to plant seeds of lust, envy, pride, anger, bitterness, etc., into my mind. Please help me to guard my thoughts and uproot any thoughts that aren’t of you. Teach me to fight the good fight for you, LORD God. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Uproot And Destroy

3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful, 4 Joseph found favor with his master and became his personal attendant. Potiphar also put him in charge of his household and placed all that he owned under his authority. ~ Genesis 39:3-4CSB

Joseph was sold as a slave by his own brothers to Ishmaelite traders. They went on to sell him to Potiphar, an Egyptian. Joseph could have easily been bitter and refused to work. We would have understood. His own flesh and blood, his big brothers who were supposed to protect him and love him, sold him into slavery. He could’ve mumbled and grumbled at God for allowing this to happen to him when all he did was share the dreams God had given him with his brothers. Joseph didn’t do that, though.

There’s no account of Joseph lashing out at his brothers for selling him or to God for allowing it to happen. There’s no account of Joseph being bitter and allowing it to stop him from achieving whatever he set out to do. Because of this, the LORD blessed all that Joseph did. God’s hand on Joseph was so noticeable that Potiphar promoted Joseph from lowly slave to his personal assistant, putting him in charge of everything he owned, including his home.

The Devil will try to use people closest to us to try to break us down. He’ll have older siblings that you look up to and just want approval from to discourage you and break you down with their words. He’ll use a parent’s busy schedule or misunderstanding of a situation to break you down. All of this with the hope that a root of bitterness will rise up in you and keep you from fulfilling your destiny.

But here’s the thing, only you can stop your destiny from coming to fruition. No one else. So, take a page out of Joseph’s book and keep your trust in the God who sees you. The God who is with you always. If you continue on and refuse to let bitterness build up in you, then the LORD will bless you regardless of what land you’re currently in.

Dear LORD, please teach me not to grow the root of bitterness within me. Help me to uproot and destroy any tree of bitterness that has already made its way into my heart. Help me to forgive those that I feel have wronged me. Help me to let go of past hurts and pains. Teach me to move forward and cling to Your promises and good plans for me above all else. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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