You see the
battle between good and evil has everything to do with your mind. What you think is what you feel is what you do. Proverbs 23:7 “For as he (a
person) thinks in his heart, so is he.” Your mind is the forerunner
of your actions. The devil uses lies to corrupt your mind and therefore your
actions. However he is very clever in how he does it. He begins with small
nagging thought, suspicions, doubt, fears, reasonings and theories. He moves
slowly. He knows our weaknesses and our fears. The Bible says that the weapons
of our warfare are not physical, but spiritual (2Corinthians 10:4-5). Satan
builds “strongholds” in our minds. Strongholds are areas
in our lives in which we are held in bondage due to wrong patterns of thinking.
Let me give you an example: (From Battlefield of the mind by Joyce Meyer)
Mary and John are having marital problems. They are both angry and resentful. The tension in the house affects everyone, including their children. The problem is Mary is bossy – she doesn’t know how to let John be the head of the house. She makes all the decisions, handles the finances and disciplines the kids. She is independent, demanding and a nag. Mary knows that her attitude is wrong, but she doesn’t know how to change it. She has strongholds in her mind she doesn’t even know about. She knows she shouldn’t be rebellious, bossy, nagging, ectr, but she doesn’t know how to change her nature. She cannot control her actions, because she doesn’t control her thoughts. Satan started with his deception just before she got married. Mary was an extremely shy child and found it very difficult to make friends. She also had a serious relationship before she met John. It ended after her boyfriend cheated on her. He also couldn’t get serious about a job and as a result wasn’t a good provider. By the time she met John she’s been brain-washed with lies like: Men can’t provide for you. You will never be able to keep a man. They are all unreliable cheaters. They will hurt you. You have to take control of your own destiny.” As a result Mary promised herself that no man will use her again and that she will not be dependent on any man. Even if she wanted to be a sweet adorable submissive wife, she couldn’t, because her thoughts determined her actions.
John also had lies told to him. He should take up his position as head of the family. He knows he should not allow his wife to run the household, finances, children and himself, but he doesn’t do anything about it except feel defeated and retreat into TV and sports. John is hiding from his responsibility because he hates confrontation. He prefers to take a passive attitude. Just like Mary John had been lied to by Satan. As a young boy he often experienced physical and emotional abuse by his mother. He tried desperately to gain her approval but it was never enough. She often told him that he will amount to nothing or won’t make it. He also was a loner at school, having experienced some rejection from some kids at school. This is normal, but for John it was worse because of the rejection he experienced at home. Just before he met Mary he also experienced rejection from a girl he loved very much. By the time he met Mary he had thoughts in his mind that went like this: It’s no use telling people how you feel, they won’t listen. If you want people to accept you, go along with whatever they want. He had no courage to be anything but shy and withdrawn, avoiding making waves at all cost. The few times he tried to stand his ground, it seemed that he always ended up losing, so he decided confrontation just wasn’t worth the effort.
Will John and Mary make it? It depends on whether they can recognise the strongholds in their lives and deal with it. It is vital that you get your thoughts in line with God’s Word. If we think fleshly thoughts, wrong thoughts, negative thoughts, our lives will be negative. It is so important that you start thinking about what you think. You have to allow God to change your thinking patterns. This is a slow process and not always easy, but it is so worth it in the end. Don’t ever give up and NEVER lose hope, if you do your life will truly be miserable. That is the difference between someone who has a relationship with God and someone who doesn’t. The one is miserable and HOPELESS; the other is miserable but always has hope. Why is it a slow process? To stop us from becoming proud, thinking that we know it all. This is truly a gift from God and not something you can EVER achieve by yourself.
The Bible tells us to meditate on the Word, to fill our minds with good and pure thoughts. At this point I want to stress that right thinking has nothing to do with salvation. Salvation is based solely on the blood of Jesus. A lot people will be saved, but will never have lived their lives in victory.
My life was almost an exact replica of Mary’s, if I didn’t know better I would have thought she was talking about me. I heard the word stronghold for the first time when I started counselling at the church and suddenly it all made sense. Unfortunately for me it was too late. For the first time I understood why I couldn’t change my personality. With the help of some wonderful people I started breaking down these strongholds. It wasn’t easy and yes there were times when I wanted to give up, but I didn’t. I can honestly say as long as I kept clinging to God (and sometimes it was clinging for dear life), I always had hope. Doesn’t matter how bad things got, I always had hope. I had to learn how to have a relationship with God, how to stay obedient to God’s Word and how to trust Him and let go when all I wanted to do was take matters in my own hands. At this point in my life I seldom feel like my prayers are hitting the ceiling. This afternoon a simple thing like asking God to let the wind calm down was answered. My finances are completely in God’s hands and oh what capable hands. I have been blessed beyond words, not once in the last year have I not been able to fulfil my financial obligations, doesn’t matter how bleak things looked at times. Every time I asked God for more work, I got it. When I have asked for guidance and wisdom where my children were concerned, I got it.
And I am never WITHOUT HOPE anymore. This last year started of pretty hopeless, but that all have changed. Living with hope, makes everything I have gone through worth it. Having peace makes everything I went through worth it. Having God looking after my needs, never ever having to worry about where my food, money, ectr will come from, makes everything worth it. GOD MAKES LIVING WORTH IT!!!!!
Are you having problems in a relationship? Do not close your eyes and continue to live in denial. Let go of your pride and admit that you have a problem. Go speak to someone and start to break down these strongholds. It will change your live forever. I cannot wait to meet the man God has chosen for me. I cannot wait to start a new marriage without strongholds keeping me in bondage. I cannot wait to be the wife I was made to be.
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