Two Kinds Of Strongholds

Two Kinds of Strongholds--by Rick Renner

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations.… — 2 Corinthians 10:4,5

If you want to be free from every stronghold of the enemy in your life, you have to understand that there are two kinds of strongholds: rational and irrational. The rational strongholds are the more difficult to deal with — because they usually make sense!

Paul refers to these rational strongholds when he says, “Casting down imaginations….” The word “imaginations” is taken from the Greek word logismos, which is where we get the word “logic,” as in “logical thinking.” Thank God for a good, sound mind, but even a sound mind must be submitted to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, your mind will develop a stronghold of natural reasoning that starts to dictate all kinds of lies to your life. I call these rational strongholds.

The reason I call them rational strongholds is that they are strongholds in the mind that make sense! You see, your logical mind will always try to talk you out of obeying God. In fact, if you don’t take charge of your mind, it will begin to completely dominate and control your obedience to God. It will tell you that you can’t afford to obey the Lord and that it isn’t a good time to step out in faith. Your natural mind will come up with a whole host of logical reasons to explain why you shouldn’t do what the Spirit of God is telling you to do.

Second, there are irrational strongholds. These primarily have to do with completely unrealistic fears and worries, such as a fear of contracting a terminal disease, a fear of dying early in life, an abnormal fear of rejection, and so forth. These types of irrational strongholds in the mind, emotions, and imagination will normally play their course and then dissipate. But if harassing thoughts persist in your mind and insist on controlling you mentally and emotionally, you must deal with them straightforwardly with the Word of God.

In Second Corinthians 10:5, Paul says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Notice that Paul doesn’t say one thing about bringing the devil into captivity. Rather, he tells you to take every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

The devil tries to invade your life through lies that he plants in your brain. If you don’t take your thoughts captive, it will be just a matter of time before the devil starts using those lies to create mental and emotional strongholds for the purpose of keeping you in bondage. But if you take your thoughts captive, then your thoughts cannot take you captive!

Whether those strongholds are rational or irrational, you can take authority over them and cast them down! So quit listening to every ol’ lie that devil tries to sink into your brain, and start taking those thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ! Pull down every mental or emotional stronghold in your life with the supernatural weapons of warfare God has given you!

When You’re Discouraged and Ready to Give Up, Here’s What You Should Do!

When You’re Discouraged and Ready to Give Up, Here’s What You Should Do!

But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions. — Hebrews 10:32

What should you do when you’re feeling discouraged and dangerously close to doubting God’s integrity — when you start thinking He just might not come through for you? Hebrews 10:32 tells us what we are to do when we find ourselves in this situation. It says, “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated.…”

This verse was written to believers who were so discouraged that they were tempted to give up and throw away their strong position of faith. They had been waiting a long time to see God’s promises come to pass, and they had begun to feel like their answer would never come. But just when they were about to give up, they read this verse that reminded them of when they were first “illuminated.”

The word “illuminated” comes from the Greek word photidzo, which means to lighten up, to shine, to illuminate, to make visible, or to radiate. It gives the impression of a brilliant flash of light that leaves a permanent and lasting impression. We get “photography” from this word, which calls to mind the blinding flash on a camera. This word is used here in order to help these struggling believers put their present hardships “on pause” for a few minutes so they can remember what they experienced when they heard the Word of God for the first time and were “illuminated.”

Maybe you can remember a time in your own life when it was as if someone suddenly flipped the light switch and turned on the light, removing the darkness from your eyes so you could see things clearly? That’s exactly how I felt when the Spirit of God finally revealed the truth of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to me. I saw it! I understood it! I was illuminated by that truth. The Spirit’s brilliant flash of light upon my mind was so strong that it made a permanent and lasting impression on my life. In fact, I’ve never been the same since!

Can you think of a time in your life when the Holy Spirit “illuminated” you regarding some truth? Perhaps He illuminated you regarding healing. Did it feel like your eyes were finally opened and you understood the work of the Cross in a new and different light? Or perhaps you were illuminated about the power of giving. After struggling with giving for all those years, it was like someone pulled back the veil that blinded your understanding — and boom! You saw it! You were illuminated about giving, and the light of that truth made a permanent and lasting impression on your life!

Do you remember the first time the Word of God shot through your being like a bolt of lightning? You saw the truth, and it brought perfect order out of the chaos in your life! How about the first time God spoke to your heart about His dream of greatness for your life? Do you remember the joy you felt?

When you get discouraged and are tempted to give up — when times are tough and your faith isn’t finding its fulfillment as quickly as you desire — you must decide to put everything on hold. Tell your mind to be silent; command your emotions to be stilled; and remember when you were first illuminated to the truths of God’s Word.

That is precisely why Hebrews 10:32 urges us, “But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated.…” The words “former days” is from the Greek word proteron. This word points the readers back to earlier times when they first met the Lord and when they were filled to overflowing with joy, hope, and faith. But now, years have passed. These believers have gone through a lot of struggles, and weariness has set in. Many of their prayers remain unanswered; the devil is telling them that none of the answers they are waiting to see manifested will ever come to pass; and they are tempted to quit.

Sometimes when you are discouraged, it’s good to hit the rewind button in your mind and drift backward to earlier experiences with the Lord when faith was simple and life was uncomplicated. Do you remember how precious those days were? Do you recall how changed you were by the power of God? Do you remember the laughter and joy you experienced? It’s good for you to rehearse those experiences because they stir you up, encourage you, and summon strength for the battle you are facing right now.

In light of these Greek words, Hebrews 10:32 conveys this idea:

“You need to remember and never forget what it was like back in
the early days — how your eyes were opened and you really saw
the truth for the first time.…”

Your divine calling, your God-given dream, must be an illumination in your heart that you can call to remembrance over and over again. Call to remembrance how God first spoke to you, and meditate on the promise He made to you. This will help you get past the weariness that’s trying to pull you down. Keep your dream shining brilliantly in your heart and mind — a powerful illumination and revelation that lights your way through any darkness the enemy might bring against you! 

What Should You Do When You Get Offended?

What Should You Do When
You Get Offended?--By Rick Renner

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that
offences will come.… — Luke 17:1

Every so often, everyone has an opportunity to get offended. In fact, Jesus said, “…It is impossible but that offences will come...” (Luke 17:1). The word “impossible” is the word anendektos, meaning something that is impossible, inadmissible, unallowable, or unthinkable. One scholar notes that it could be translated, “It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to become offended.…”

But what is an offense? The word “offense” comes from the Greek word skandalon, from which we get the word scandal. This is a powerful picture that you must understand! The word skandalon originally described the small piece of wood that was used to keep the door of an animal trap propped open. A piece of food was placed inside the trap to lure the animal inside. When the animal entered the trap and accidentally bumped the skandalon, or the small piece of wood, the skandalon collapsed, causing the trap door to slam shut and the animal to be caught inside with no way to escape.

However, the New Testament also uses the word skandalon to refer to a stone or an obstacle that caused one to trip, to stumble, to lose his footing, to waver, to falter, and to fall down. In First Peter 2:8, the word skandalon is used to describe how unbelievers react to the Gospel when they don’t want to hear it or believe it. Peter said, “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word….” Rather than accept the message and be saved, these people stumble when they hear the truth, tripping over the message that could set them free.

But in Luke 17:1, Jesus used the word skandalon to warn us about events that happen in life with the potential to trip us up. Sometimes Satan baits us with something — drawing us into a trap in which he knows we’ll become offended. When we bump into a moment of offense, the trap slams down shut — and like an animal that is trapped in a cage and can’t get out, we suddenly find ourselves caught in a miserable situation, trapped in detrimental and negative emotions!

This means Luke 17:1 could be translated:

“It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to be lured into a situation that could potentially snare you in the feelings of offense.…”

If this is really what Jesus meant, we need to know the nature of the bait Satan uses to get to us. What is the “offense” the devil uses to trap most people?

An offense usually occurs when you see, hear, or experience a behavior that is so different from what you expected that it causes you to falter, totter, and wobble in your soul. In fact, you are so stunned by what you have observed or by a failed expectation that you lose your footing emotionally. Before you know it, you are dumbfounded and flabbergasted about something. Then your shock turns into disbelief; your disbelief into disappointment; and your disappointment into offense.

We’ve all experienced this kind of disappointment at some point in our lives. According to Jesus’ words in Luke 17:1, the opportunity to be offended comes to every one of us. As long as we live and breathe, we must combat this nuisance and refuse to allow it to have a place in our hearts and minds. Even worse, we’ve all been the source of offense at some point or another. It may not have been intentional on our part; in fact, we may not have even known we offended anyone until the person later came and informed us of what we did.

In light of all this, I’d like you to consider these questions:

Have you ever offended someone?
When you found out about the cause of offense, were you shocked?
When the news finally reached you that you had offended that person, were you surprised to hear how he or she perceived what you did or said?
Through the years, I’ve learned to do the best I can to avoid being a source of offense to anyone. At the same time, I try not to be too shocked if I find out that someone, somewhere, has gotten offended. Because people come from different backgrounds, wake up in bad moods, have a bad day at work, don’t physically feel well, and go through a whole host of other negative experiences in their lives, their interpretation of our actions and words may be very different from our original intention.

We can be almost 99-percent sure that someone along the way will misunderstand what we do or misinterpret something we say. Therefore, as Christians, we must: 1) do everything in our power to communicate correct messages to one another; and 2) do everything in our power to bring healing and restoration whenever misunderstanding and offense occurs between ourselves and someone else.

If you discover that you have been a source of offense to someone else, take the mature path and go ask that person to forgive you. And don’t get defensive, for that will only make the problem worse. It may even lead to a deeper conflict, so just say you are sorry and move on!

Do everything you can to bury that offense and destroy what the devil is trying to do between you. Make it your personal aim to help that other person overcome what he thinks you did or said. Sometimes it is more important to help the other person attain a position of peace than it is to prove who is right or wrong!

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, I want to repent for ever being a source of offense to anyone. I am asking You to forgive me for fighting to prove my point in the past when I should have just gone to that other person and apologized, asking for his forgiveness. If I ever find out I’ve offended someone again, please help me deal with it more maturely than I have in the past. Jesus, I also need You to help me remember that when others do things that make me sad or that disappoint me, they probably didn’t mean to do it. Help me give them the same mercy and grace that I hope others will give me.

I pray this in Jesus’ name!

MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY

I confess that I am a source of blessing and not a cause of offense! I do everything in my power to communicate correct messages, and I immediately move to bring healing and restoration whenever misunderstanding and offense has occurred between myself and someone else. I do everything I can to bury that offense and to destroy what the devil is trying to do. I make it my aim to walk in the Spirit, to speak the love of God into every situation, and to refuse to let the devil use me to cause others to trip and fall.

I declare this by faith in Jesus' name!

QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO ANSWER

1. Can you think of an occasion when you unintentionally offended someone, and you were totally shocked when you heard how he or she perceived what you said or did?

2. Have you ever been offended by someone, only to find out later that the person never intended to offend you and was genuinely sorry when he or she found out how you felt about it?

3. What do you think is the most mature way a person can respond when he or she is tempted to get caught in the trap of offense? How do you think you should deal with a potential offense when someone hurts your feelings or lets you down?

50 Things That Holy Spirit Does in Your Life--by Frank Viola

The following article comes from Frank Viola's new book, Jesus Now: Unveiling the Present-Day Ministry of Christ.

1.      The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).

2.      The Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13).

3.      The Spirit regenerates us (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5).

4.      The Spirit glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14).

5.      The Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15).

6.      The Spirit leads us (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1).

7.      The Spirit sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 5:16).

8.      The Spirit empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Rom. 15:19; Acts 1:8).

9.      The Spirit fills us (Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17).

10.    The Spirit teaches us to pray (Rom. 8:26-27; Jude 1:20).

11.    The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

12.    The Spirit produces in us the fruit or evidence of His work and presence (Gal. 5:22-23).

13.    The Spirit distributes spiritual gifts and manifestations (the outshining) of His presence to and through the body (1 Cor. 12:4, 8-10; Heb. 2:4).

14.    The Spirit anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38).

15.    The Spirit washes and renews us (Titus 3:5).

16.    The Spirit brings unity and oneness to the body (Eph. 4:3; 2:14-18). Here the Spirit plays the same role that He plays in the Godhead. The Spirit is the life that unites Father and Son. The Spirit plays the same role in the church. When the Spirit is operating in a group of people, He unites them in love. Therefore, a sure evidence of the Holy Spirit working in a group is Love and Unity.

17.    The Spirit is our guarantee and deposit of the future resurrection (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5).

18.    The Spirit seals us unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30).

19.    The Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).

20.    The Spirit quickens our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11).

21.    The Spirit reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Cor. 2:10).

22.    The Spirit reveals what has been given to us from God (1 Cor. 2:12).

23.    The Spirit dwells in us (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17).

24.    The Spirit speaks to, in, and through us (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:11; Heb 3:7; Matt. 10:20; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2; 16:6,7; 21:4,11).

25.    The Spirit is the agent by which we are baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).

26.    The Spirit brings liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).

27.    The Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).

28.    The Spirit cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).

29.    The Spirit enables us to wait (Gal. 5:5).

30.    The Spirit supplies us with Christ (Phil. 1:19, KJV).

31.    The Spirit grants everlasting life (Gal. 6:8).

32.    The Spirit gives us access to God the Father (Eph. 2:18).

33.    The Spirit makes us (corporately) God’s habitation (Eph. 2:22).

34.    The Spirit reveals the mystery of God to us (Eph. 3:5).

35.    The Spirit strengthens our spirits (Eph. 3:16).

36.    The Spirit enables us to obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22).

37.    The Spirit enables us to know that Jesus abides in us (1 John 3:24; 4:13).

38.    The Spirit confesses that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2).

39.    The Spirit says “Come, Lord Jesus” along with the bride (Rev. 22:17).

40.    The Spirit dispenses God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5).

41.    The Spirit bears witness to the truth in our conscience (Rom. 9:1).

42.    The Spirit teaches us (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:26).

43.    The Spirit gives us joy (1 Thess. 1:6).

44.    The Spirit enables some to preach the gospel (1 Pet. 1:12).

45.    The Spirit moves us (2 Pet. 1:21).

46.    The Spirit knows the things of God (1 Cor. 2:11).

47.    The Spirit casts out demons (Matt. 12:28).

48.    The Spirit brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26).

49.    The Spirit comforts us (Acts 9:31).

50.    The Spirit makes some overseers in the church and sends some out to the work of church planting [through the body] (Acts 20:28; 13:2).

The Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus Christ and to His body. The Spirit reveals Christ to us, gives us His life, and makes Christ alive in us. The Spirit takes the experiences of Jesus - His incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension- and brings them into our own experience.