Battling Strongholds

Battling Strongholds

By Jim Hammond

Don’t you find it an unfortunate thing that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones? I do. Have you also discovered that the chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be easily broken? I have. Initially those bad habits can seem to be harmless or even fun, but then they become ruts. And those same ruts run down hill, headed straight for the grave. One person said the only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.

What Is A Stronghold? Anything that masters you has a potential stronghold on you. Let’s look at two places in the Bible that helps us understand “strongholds”.

1 Corinthians 6:12 "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.

Paul wanted to be mastered by nothing but his Lord Jesus Christ. Paul also wrote specifically about “strongholds”.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. {4} The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. {5} We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

It is easy to pull a weed; it is harder to pull a tree. When a thought process is incidental, it can be isolated and confronted, or redirected, or removed, but when a thought process becomes entrenched, it is more difficult to remove. It has become a stronghold. There are some synonyms for this, addictions, habits, compulsive behaviors, just to name a few.

Notice the last verse we read, 2 Corinthians 10:5. It speaks more about thought processes than it does about outward actions and behaviors. As we get closer to a clear definition of a stronghold, let’s look at two more verses that show us that there are 2 ways of thinking (Isaiah 55:9; Proverbs 3:5-6).

Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We are incapable of determining God’s thoughts through human reasoning; therefore we are dependent on divine revelation to understand God’s thoughts, and way of thinking.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; {6} in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

The two ways of thinking are as follows: 1. God’s Way, The Plan “A” way, the Way of Faith, and 2. My Way, which is the Plan “B” way, the way of MY Reason, or MY Feelings. God’s way of thinking and Man’s way of thinking are often in conflict. The stronger your conviction that God’s plan is always right, and is always better, the stronger your commitment will be to obey Him. Plan B grows strong in your life when you entertain thoughts that are contrary to God’s Word.

Now we are ready for the definition of a stronghold. Stronholds are entrenched Plan B ways of thinking and living that create a fortress (or enemy outpost) where Satan has dominion rather than God in your life.

At first these plan B thoughts are nothing but pesky cobwebs in your life, but left alone they become cables. They become cables the enemy uses to pull our lives away from God. They form the cables of a strong bondage. The entrenched power of habit when habit becomes a stronghold stands little to no chance of being demolished by the power of reason alone. That’s why when you are caught and someone says, “Why did you do it?” There is no answer to give, because even you don’t have a good reason. Tell me if you agree with this statement. Reason and intellect stand little chance against the entrenched power of habit. That’s why we need God.

How do Strongholds get established? Let’s consider the sources of Plan B ways of thinking. These cobwebs that become cables come from 3 Sources, 1) the Flesh, 2) the World, and 3) Satan.

1. The word “Flesh” is translated “Sinful Nature” in the NIV. It is that part of you that was trained to live independent of God before you became a Christian. Nobody pushed the CLEAR button when you became a Christian. All the Plan B ideas you had, you brought with you when you became a Christian. All these entrenched Plan B ways of thinking need to be transformed by “the renewing of the mind” (Romans 12:2). Although, when you became a Christian, you were washed, and you were forgiven, none of your plan B ways of thinking and patterning of thoughts and consequently desires based on those patterns were eliminated. You still had ingrained flesh patterns. These are strongholds, and the New Testament teaches us how to deal with them.

2. The second source for our strongholds is the World, our Environment. We feed strongholds with the patterns that come from this fallen world. Strongholds can be fed with the media, internet, magazines, books, music, or any number of other things. The roots of the stronghold grow deeper and deeper grabbing more and more of our hearts until we eventually feel the stranglehold the stronghold has. Fortunately, God’s word reveals how to deal with this conforming influence (Romans 12:2).

3. In addition to the first two powerful sources for a stronghold, is the fact that there are supernatural unseen forces that will use strongholds and empower them to be stronger yet! Satan and his demonic hordes are actively opposing all the Plan A plans God has for your life.

Pleasure is God’s invention. Satan attempts to pull the cables by distorting pleasure, by misplacing it, and by twisting it. Satan tries to get us to take part in pleasures which God has invented, but at times or in ways, or in degrees, which God has forbidden. Satan always tries to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that which is less natural, and in the end less pleasurable or satisfying. Satan’s efforts and the way of any Plan B thinking lead you to ever increasing cravings with ever diminishing pleasure. You want something more and more, but enjoy it less and less. In the end you will be miserable if you don’t demolish the stronghold. Why? Because the strong hold is a fortress of Satan, his foothold, his outpost, his tool, designed to destroy you or the purposes of God and good in you.

Because strongholds are internal problems, often external armor provides little safeguard over them. Because they are internal problems, an internal answer needs to be applied. An effort to consistently avoid external sources of temptation by itself will be inadequate. The desires need to be cleansed internally and replaced by God’s desires, God’s disciplines, God’s thoughts, and God’s priorities and passions.

How do I demolish a Stronghold? First, you need to Have Hope. You need to be convinced there is a way out. Plan A thinking needs to start with solid truth. Here’s what God says about temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Second, Confess Your Sin And Rely On God. The power behind a stronghold may be the pride which keeps it in the dark. Sometimes confessing to a trusted friend breaks the holding power. Make yourself accountable to someone. Ask them to call and check up on you, but remember an external fix and external support alone will not do the trick. You have to go further than this.

Third, Stop Rationalizing. There is always a way of escape. You CAN do it.

Fourth, Equip Yourself. There are several things you can do to empower yourself to take your thoughts captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Memorize these passages and use them as tools to help you take captive every thought used against you with your stronghold. Start with 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Romans 12:1-2; and 1 Corinthians 10:13. The Bible tells us how practical and powerful memorization can be.

Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart, his feet do not slip.

Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? Buy living according to your word…I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Establishing and keeping a daily personal time with God is a vitally important discipline for keeping you out of the dangerous ruts. By the power of the God’s Word in your life, and God’s Spirit you establish a new pattern of leaning on Him. CLASS 201 teaches you how to do this. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Colossians 3:16)

Build on the positive. Write down 10 reasons why you should stop this bad habit, or way of thinking, and 10 benefits that you will have if you stopped. Post the top three benefits somewhere for you to see regularly. Keep it as a part of your journal. In your journal keep count of the days of success. Praise God and give him the glory for the progress.