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| Strongholds |
Intro
The Believer's
Authority Over Satan
How Satan Attacks
Strongholds
Breaking Strongholds
Ancestral Strongholds
Take the First Step |
Yet, there is another battle that the Christian faces. God’s Word
tells us there are strongholds, or fortresses set up by Satan’s
trickery, but God gives us powerful weapons to pull them down (2
Corinthians 3,4,5). Strongholds are simply holds on us that are strong,
fortresses that Satan has set up if we continue to commit a sin of the
flesh. We then open a door that gives the enemy a place to work in our
lives. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:27 “And do not give the devil an
opportunity, or a place.” The word, “place,” means a location, as a
position, home, or tract, one tiny speck of ground from which to work in
our lives.
Unconfessed sin, that is, any sin not cleansed by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, gives license to Satan. The devil will take advantage
of any area of our life that we are unwilling for the Holy Spirit to
control. Strongholds were the underlying cause for the struggles of our
three cases listed at the beginning of this article. Tim and Jodi, Sharon,
and Josh all needed to deal with things in their past.
Tim and Jodi did not realize what was behind their struggles. They
loved each other dearly. They had beautiful children that were Christians.
Their neighbors thought they were the perfect family, but their lives were
in chaos. They were in a spiritual battle with a powerful enemy rather
than against each other. Satan was taking advantage of them. Before Tim
was saved he had premarital sex. He had truly repented of his sin, asking
God’s forgiveness and Jodi’s forgiveness but Jodi was afraid to trust
him. She was jealous, and constantly accused him. Because of the false
accusations, Tim allowed anger, bitterness and resentment to enter. Tim
needed to break subjection and the spiritual relationship from his illicit
sex partner. He thought that it was sufficient to break the physical
relationship, and confess his sin to God and Jodi, and he could not
understand why he continued to struggle with lust. Satan had set up a
stronghold, and Tim was fragmented by being joined spiritually to another
person. Satan was using this to shoot his fiery dart at Tim’s mind,
causing him to struggle with spiritual adultery. Also, Satan had added
strongholds of depression and despair that caused Tim to be tempted to
suicide. In their heads, Tim and Jodi had all the right solutions, but
there seemed to be an out-of-control force that pushed both of them toward
ending their lives. “I can handle death better than face life,” Tim
heard himself saying many times. The young couple could not imagine how
God could let his children suffer this way. They began blaming God for
their dilemma.
Basically, sexual relationships are spiritual. They represent the
intimacy of Christ and His Church. Tim needed to take seriously Revelation
12:11. God had forgiven him for his sins, but Satan continued to harass
him. He needed to give the word of his testimony, take back all ground he
had given Satan and pull down all strongholds with the spiritual weapons
that God provides to every Christian. |
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© Marie Hearn, 1999
Notice: These materials are not intended to take
the place of professional, mental health services, but rather to provide
Biblical insight and helpful resources regarding various spiritual and emotional
problems. While we are glad to offer these resources for your personal
use, we encourage you to contact our pastor, Nolan
Jackson, Sr., for in-depth, free, Christian Counseling. If you are
interested in setting up an appointment, please call 770-786-8676 or e-mail
(be sure to include contact information).
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