Set Your Mind Free: Fighting Against Strongholds

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this (present) darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places." Ephesians 6:12 AMP

Through this scripture, I’ve learned that this is how the devil intends on fighting against me. Every weapon that is formed against me in the flesh, has a plan to set up strongholds in my mind. And as long as I look at the weapon that is formed against me in the flesh, it will prosper. But - those that receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be called the sons of God. And as sons of God, with everything that we do, we ought to “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and [then] all these things shall be added unto [us]!” Matthew 6:33 KJV. So when I walk in the authority of a son of God, no weapon formed against me shall prosper!

We have to remember what Jesus called the devil in John 8:44 AMP. He said, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths."

The devil invests his time to plant little seeds to build up strongholds in our minds; through his mission to defeat us. He has taken the time to study us. How else would he be aware of what we like & don’t like, our insecurities, our weaknesses, and our fears? Because he has access to this information, he has sent his little demon soldiers to corrupt our lives. As long as we focus on the actual problem at hand and not looking at what Ephesians 6:12 says: "against the principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness"; then we will continue to lose our focus on what God has for us.

As I was reviewing this, I began to search myself to see where the devil tries to attack me. I grew up with a parent that made us (my siblings) do a lot for them. They often made excuses for very small things to life-changing things. Not realizing that was teaching me to do and be the same way. Sometimes I make excuses for things that I should be able to do but in my mind, I feel like I can’t because either I’ve never done it, I don’t want to do it or I’m scared to do it. But none of those things are reasons that I shouldn’t do whatever is placed in front of me at the moment - or even things that I desire to do! Whatever mindset we have about our lives, it will begin to play itself out. Proverbs 23:7 “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”.

I researched the word “strong” and "holds" in Greek. Strong means “to fortify, through the idea of, holding safely; a castle or argument stronghold”. Holds was defined as "to take around (as a companion); to walk around - compass, go (round) about, lead about".

The choice of words in the Greek definition is interesting to me because they are very literal. Especially for me. Through circumstances, the devil plants seeds in our minds. Each circumstance repeats itself throughout our lives, then allows us to cultivate a theory on the situation (holding safely - to take around as a companion). Which then makes you begin to believe differently; or it leads and defines your thinking. Those seeds grow and begin to be a compass for how you view things in life. It becomes your perspective.

When that same situation plays out repeatedly, it makes that stronghold stronger each time (a castle). So for example, if you grew up festering on the times that your parents yelled at you and feel like you weren't praised for the good things you did, then you may grow up thinking that you’re never good enough. That stronghold has built a castle in the front of your mind and that's blocking your view from the promises of God.

If we're always looking at the outer appearance of a situation (the castle), instead of looking at the subliminal message (the word of God), we will miss out on what God is trying to show/teach us. Again, our battle "is not against flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this (present) darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places." We should use wisdom in each situation, to determine how to move. Because what the devil meant for evil, God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). All that Joseph (in the Bible) went through, was heavy. His own brothers sold him. But in the end, he came out on top and it was all apart of God's plan (Joseph's story - Genesis 37-50).

So we must remember: every situation that comes against us is not to harm us. But instead, it is a way to prosper us. We are overcomers! GOD has plans to prosper us, not to harm us.

Transparent Moment: When I was younger, often I felt like my parents brought more attention to my negative behaviors than my positive behaviors. So believing the lies of the devil, telling me I wasn‘t good enough - was my stronghold. As a result, at times, it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the love that God has for me. But I continue to remind myself, that He only sees the good in me through His Son’s blood. That’s one of the things that we need to hold onto - that God sees Jesus in each of us. He sees His Son when He looks at us. If we can grasp onto that then we are at the starting point. We can go forward and overcome ALL the lies that the devil has built up in our minds!