"The Anatomy Of A Stronghold In The Mind Of A Human Being"

Welcome to Preach the Gospel. Trouble is coming to the earth. It is the program designed to give you effective solutions for handling the problems in your life during this troubled season.

Today's message, The Anatomy Of A Spiritual Stronghold In The Mind Of A Human Being.

In this message, we will talk about how the devil builds fortresses or castles in people's minds. We will talk about how he builds a fortified city like Jericho in a person's mind in order to control their behavior and cause them to walk in disobedience to the Word of God. The Bible calls these strongholds and tells us how to demolish them.

A stronghold is a deep-seated mental or behavioral pattern in an individual that is fortified or caused by deception also by unhealed emotional wounds or even trauma that an individual might have gone through. This behavior, habit, or way of thinking opposes the truth of God's Holy Word. It has the power to keep the individual in bondage.

Some examples may be serious drug addiction, alcoholism, anxiety, foolish pride, sexual addiction, and other toxic ways of thinking and behaving. Additional examples can be resentment that has been held on to for years and years. And it may also be unforgiveness that is so strong that it becomes an emotional prison. And it can be chronic anxiety or simply fear of persons or things.

For the believer in Christ, when God is his stronghold, there's no room for another stronghold because he can only have one master at a time. For instance, in Psalm 9:9, David refers to the Lord as a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. He is saying that the Lord God is a stronghold for the oppressed.

In another place, he says it this way. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. Psalm 18:2. And when this is your declaration, there's no room for Satan to build another stronghold in your mind.

Let us pray. Dear Lord, we give You thanks and praise for this awesome day. We pray Your blessing upon this message and upon the listener to the message, asking You to deliver them from the bondage of sin. We pray that as they listen to the powerful truth of Your Word, strongholds in their minds and of their will may begin to crumble and be totally demolished by the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Now, back to the message. We see many examples of persons today who are highly possessed and dysfunctional because Satan has built a stronghold or strongholds in their minds and they seem to be hopelessly lost. Yet they may not be beyond hope because all things are possible with the great God that we serve. We see them on the street. drug addicts, prostitutes, alcoholics, scam artists, schemers, etc. There are others like mass murderers, wicked world leaders, and even wicked pastors and wicked persons claiming to be Christians.

Satan had even built fake theological strongholds in the minds of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. These deceptions were so strong that they prevented them from seeing that Jesus Christ was truly the Son of God. Satan's stronghold was so strong that he persuaded them to crucify the Messiah, the one they had been awaiting for thousands of years.

In military terms, a stronghold is a fortification, a city with high walls built on high ground. It is a safehold, a protected fort, a place where an army, an individual or a group of individuals hide out. This is a safe area where the army or the troop seek refuge. They seek protection from their stronghold so that they are able to launch counterattacks against their enemy.

Two famous ancient strongholds are Jericho and the Rock of Gibraltar. You might have heard of this rock of Gibraltar. In ancient times and even today, there are many strongholds. In particular, the city of Jericho was one of the most secure strongholds of its time because of its fortifications which included thick, high, and multi-layered walls around the entire city as well as a 28 foot watch tower.

Another impressive stronghold was the Rock of Gibraltar, which controlled entry to the Mediterranean Sea. This stronghold apparently was built underground and consisted of more than 34 miles of underground tunnels, ammunition depots, and living quarters, etc. In the 1700s, French and Spanish forces surrounded the rock for nearly four years and still were unable to take control of the fortress. And when you think about it in this way, it gives you an idea of the kind of power Satan has over an individual when he's able to build a stronghold in that individual's mind.

But that which in scripture is referred to as a stronghold is not a physical location as much as it is a mental and spiritual mindset and an attitude. It is a way of thinking. It can be a religion or belief system that is contrary to God's Word. This stronghold gives the enemy who is Satan and his demonic forces a safe place to operate in our mind. And this can be so dangerous. And from this place of comfort and safety that we have created for the devil by our ungodly beliefs and philosophies, he then takes control of our will away from us and we seem to be helpless. From this position of power, he influences the choices and decisions that we make and most importantly the things we do from this high place in our mind. He is most dangerous because he uses the stronghold to prevent or to interfere with our relationship with God.

Here are some examples of these strongholds. Number one, lies we tell ourselves that are not according to scripture. Lies like, "No one cares for me. I am the greatest." Lies like I am better than everybody else. Or we might say things like I can never forgive them. There are others who say things like every time I help someone it turns out badly. I'm not helping anyone else anymore. Or they might say no matter how hard I try, I cannot overcome this habit.

Number two, they can simply be addictive habits, bitterness or toxic behavior. Satan is known to establish strongholds not only in people's minds but also in cultures, in groups like cults, secret lodges in order to limit or prevent people's access to God and for the purpose of preventing them from living victoriously according to God's plan. And when we join these groups or these organizations, he then sets up the stronghold in our mind and our heart.

Thank God there's no spiritual stronghold that can prevent God's Holy Spirit from coming into the heart of someone who would simply believe God's Word. These spiritual strongholds like deep-seated lies and unconfessed sin or prideful ways can provide resistance and blind a person from accepting the truth of God's Holy Word but only for a season. If a person truly loves God, it can only delay their deliverance. Glory to God. Because the power of God, the divine power of God is greater than any stronghold. God's might is greater than any fortress of the mind. And you can be sure the Word of God is able to penetrate the deepest bunkers of the mind because the Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.

Now, what does scripture say about how we destroy these strongholds? Most importantly, the lies about themselves that people hold on to. For instance, lies about their parents, about their upbringing, their culture, etc. Have to be replaced with the truth of God's Word. One has to come out and a new one comes in.

This is why the neuro-theologians say that reading the Word of God four times a week will rewire the brain and cause changes in our behavior. Another way of saying it is it will rid you of demons. It will break up Satan's stronghold and cause positive changes in your behavior.

Here's foolproof strategy. In 2 Corinthians 10:4, scripture tells us how to destroy strongholds of the devil in our minds in three powerful steps.

Number one, recognize that the weapons that believers in Christ fight with are not carnal. In other words, these weapons are not things of the flesh or physical in nature, but they are things of the spirit. These weapons are the Word of God, prayer, praise, and worship, which are divinely powerful. They're able to pull down or demolish these strongholds.

Number two, cast down or demolish arguments, imaginations, or imaginary things. And every high thing or stronghold that has exalted itself against and above the knowledge of God. This simply means replacing ungodly lies with the powerful truth of God's holy Word.

Number three, bring every thought in your mind and everything you say into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And this means making every thought, every spoken word line up with the Word of God.

We must make sure the things that we say with our mouths are not offensive to God and that they are in accordance with His holy Word. The scripture is referring to those ungodly things we say as imaginations. In fact, they are unreal and untrue and are rebellion against God. These things that we say so flippantly without thinking, they oppose God. They exalt themselves against the Mighty God, against His wisdom. And when we say them, we think we sound so intelligent, but we actually sound spiritually ignorant or even silly.

Add these four things to your daily routine. Number one, study. Now let us come to an understanding of why Satan tries to prevent us from studying the Bible. Why we are so lazy in taking up the Word of God. Because therein lies the key to our deliverance. Hallelujah.

Number two, pray. Let us come to the understanding why so many of us find it difficult to pray. Because the enemy has this strong place in your mind and he controls you from there. He persuades you to put out prayer or not to pray at all. He tells you that it doesn't work.

And someone described prayer as the act of inviting God to come into the areas in which we struggle. In fact, it means we invite Him into that stronghold that He may break it up that He may demolish it and He certainly can do that because when He comes in, we always win.

Number three, worship. Let us understand why he tries to make worship feel uncomfortable or awkward. The devil that is. Why does he try to make worship uncomfortable for us? And then so many things we do so smoothly. Well, it is because he hopes we will run away from it. But we must actively worship the Lord every chance we get. Praise Him, my friend. Thank Him throughout the day. Worship is one of the keys to your deliverance and Satan knows this.

Number four, be alert to your thoughts and words. Let us become vigilant of our thoughts. The enemy is daily trying to feed us negative thoughts. Understand his strategy. He's feeding us defeating thoughts every day. Sometimes moment by moment. We must resist him.

Listen to yourself, man. actively analyze and evaluate the things that you're saying to yourself in your mind and with your mouth every living day.

Now, the anatomy of a stronghold. Another physical example of a stronghold can be the muscles of the conch which it uses to attach itself to its shell. Unless you know how to release this trigger and break this attachment, you will never be able to get that conch out of the shell. This muscle is called the columellar muscle. It anchors the entire conch to the hard central limestone core of the shell.

This muscle winds itself around this strong pillar, which makes it impossible for predators and impossible for humans to pull the conch out of the shell. There's also a horn-shaped blade, like a hard piece that acts like a door. As it draws its body up into the stronghold, this piece blocks the opening and creates a lock. When this happens, you're unable to get a grip on the conch, but the expert fisherman hits the shell with a sharp object at a precise spot on the head of the shell, which breaks open the stronghold. Then he uses a knife to dislodge the grip of the muscle and he pulls the conch out of the shell like magic.

This is precisely how the Word of God works to break, to demolish, to destroy strongholds that Satan has set up in our mind. These strongholds prevent healing. They may even prevent us from finding and staying on a job. They work against our marriages. They keep us enslaved to habits like gambling, drugs, sex, different kinds of sexual perversions. And from the perch of the stronghold in a person's mind, Satan convinces a man that he's a woman or convinces a woman that she's a man. Satan's stronghold of lies in our minds are responsible for all human dysfunctions. Believe it or not.

Does every stronghold in a person's mind need to be completely demolished before the Holy Spirit can come into their heart? No, my friend. The Word of God softens the heart and ushers in a healing flow. It begins guiding the individual toward truth. And this is in accordance with Hebrews 4:12, which says,

"The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Word of God breaks down the defenses that previously had prevented salvation from coming to the individual.

Then when the Holy Spirit comes into the heart, the process of sanctification begins. As they study God's holy Word and participate in worship, those strongholds that still exist are systematically demolished one by one. And they are set completely free of these habits that had become entrenched because of a stronghold. And as the truth of God's Word invades the heart, Satan must flee because he loses his grip over the life of that individual. But this calls for active study, daily prayer, and pursuit of God by the individual. This does not come by magic, but it comes with ease when we face it in a determined fashion.

May God bless your understanding of this word. May He lead you into other scriptures and truths that will help you to further understand the demolishing of strongholds. God bless and keep you in His mighty wonderful name that you may also help someone else.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Well friend, we want to give you an opportunity to make that right today. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

• Father, I am a sinner.

• I am sorry for all my sins.

• I need Jesus to be the head of my life.

• Please forgive me, Father, the many ways I have offended You.

• I have decided to invite Jesus Christ to be the Lord of my life.

• Dear Lord Jesus, welcome to my heart.

• I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

• You keep the key. It belongs to you.

• Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth, to teach me Your Word and to keep me on the straight and narrow pathway.

• May He demolish any strongholds in my mind in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master.

In the meantime, we want to encourage you to begin reading the Word of God every day. It is your daily food. Read it audibly because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Begin in the book of John, then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Now, you also need to be baptized. Let your pastor know that you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized. Pray daily. Attend at your local church and one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself and we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.