Freedom in Christ #6

Strongholds



The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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. ~ 2 Cor 10:4-5

Freedom in Christ defines a stronghold, amongst other things, as; mental habit patterns of thought that are not consistent with Gods word.

In short, these can stop us laying hold of truths because our patterns of thinking are captive to some untruth, some deep rooted lie.

They can be established through our prolonged exposure to this fallen world which conditions us, through traumatic experiences and through repeated falling to temptations. The effects can be to give us a faulty view of reality.


The good news is that they can be broken with this 'divine power'. We can break their power and take captive every thought, making it obedient to Christ.



Again, none of this is teaching that I am unfamiliar with.  I asked myself where the strongholds were in my life, and for the first time in a long time, largely because of what God has been doing through the period I have been on this course, I felt there were no obvious strongholds.

But then, that was the obvious ones. I bet if you asked anyone who lived with me, or knows me well, they may be able to spot some strongholds in my life. What worries me more are the more subtle patterns. By nature, if we are deceived, then we do not realise that we are.

I cant claim to have come that far on the journey, since my last blog. If I am honest, I feel like I have hit a bit of a bottle neck. But it also feels as though there is a lot of pressure in that bottle neck waiting to go phwooosh, when the cork gets popped. I can't help feeling that the 'Steps to freedom' day may be a little bit of an uncorking experience.

Until then I want to ask God for wisdom in discerning these strongholds and in walking by the Spirit.