As I was listening to a worship service this morning I could feel the presence of the Lord increasing in my home. The worship was genuinely beautiful. It ushered in the peacefully fierce presence of the Lord. The Holy Spirit filled the room to the point that the intensity gave me chills from head to toe.
I began to see a vision of a brick wall right in front of me. As I spun around, I realized that I was boxed in. I was surrounded on all sides by this wall. The corners were tied in strong. There was no escape. The bricks were red with gray mortar but they were larger than the normal red bricks that you see in home construction. They were the size of cinder blocks and the mortar was extra thick. The Lord put on my heart that this is what it’s like to be bound with a stronghold.
A stronghold is defined as:
1. a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.
I will follow up with the comment that a spiritual stronghold set up by the enemy is one that is cleverly set up by a decisive demonic plan of attack. It’s usually in an area where you struggle with sin, with your identity, or struggle to walk in righteousness. They set up to attack there because they think that your struggle in the flesh will keep their demonic plan of attack safe from the Lord coming in and kicking them out. Your struggle in the flesh or walking willingly in sin and opening doors to the enemy is much of what gives the demonic stronghold a legal right to be set up there.
2.a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld.
I will follow up with the comment that this is where spiritual maturity and taking guard of your thoughts comes in to play. The demonic stronghold will usually begin with something small. An offense, rejection, abuse, trauma, neglect, etc. it could begin as thoughts of feeling unwanted. It could begin with word curses being spoken over you with people, even family members, verbally abusing you and putting you down, even as early as childhood. These thoughts can take root in our minds if we accept them as our own. These thoughts of being unwanted turn into feelings of rejection and isolation. That leads to depression and anxiety setting up a stronghold there. That can lead to wanting to isolate and even to the extent of affecting your personal and professional life, even possibly losing jobs due to poor emotional intelligence. It could lead to demonically influenced physical illness in your body. It could lead to suicidal thoughts and eventually someone ending their life. All because of the demonic strongholds that are set up due to believing a lie that invaded your mind and having a LACK OF THE TRUTH OF THE WORD to fight lie. The truth of the word will set you free from the bondage of these negative thoughts. They are lies.
How much violence can we stop with love? How many shootings could be stopped by someone’s stronghold of anger being broken by the blood of Christ? How many people could we save from suicide by sharing the gospel, simply by letting them know how loved they are and how the Lord felt that they were worth dying for? Letting them know that they were designed and knitted together in their mother’s womb perfectly. How many people could we save by letting them know that they are born to inherit the kingdom of a King? That all of this struggle here on earth is temporary. That they are the head and not the tail, they are above and not beneath? How many could experience freedom from these demonic attacks and strongholds if we would just open our mouths and tell them they are loved?
Jesus loves YOU! For exactly who you are, right now, with every flaw, right in the place where you are in this very moment. You are totally and absolutely loved. The Lord knew that you would be in this place, right now, reading these words at this time on your wonderful journey to become the person you were designed and destined to be. He saw every sin, every misstep, every twist and turn, and He loves you every step of the way. You don’t have to change to be loved and accepted by the Lord. The love of the Lord is what will transform your mind, your heart and your life.
My focus drew back to the walls around me. I felt trapped. turned to my right and saw a sledgehammer. I picked it up and began to swing, dedicating my focus on breaking through these walls no matter what it takes. After a few tiresome swings I was making some progress. The higher parts of the wall were coming down. I could bust through and tear down most of the weaker parts of the center of the wall too. However, the closer to each corner and the closer to the foundation I would hit, the harder it was to breakthrough, the stronger the bricks were stuck in place and the more frustrated and willing to give up I became once I stopped making progress.
The Lord put on my heart that this is where many Christians struggle. You can worship, go to church on Sundays, sing in the choir, sit on the board of directors, you can even be the pastor and still struggle with strongholds in your life. This is where you can’t do it on your own. You can try and try to do things on your own but eventually it will all fall apart. There will be no progress. It falls apart so you realize that your focus was on the wrong things. It falls apart because the only one holding any of this together is the Lord Himself. This is where so many give up and lose faith. They say their prayers were never answered or they say that there is no god. They lack fear of the Lord and believe they can live in sin and be accepted into the kingdom no matter how they act. They give up trying to walk in righteousness because they struggle and say that the Lord loves them anyway. They quit going to church, they throw in the towel. They try to be good but can never be good enough to totally break free so they give up. The ruins remain and the demonic bends remain. They give up without the chance to break free because they refuse to give up control and turn the situation over to the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It takes a fully surrendered heart, mind and spirit to fully break free.
Suddenly I felt fire behind me. I couldn’t directly look at Him but I felt the fiery silhouette of the Holy Spirit behind me. I could sense that He was holding an even bigger sledgehammer. It was the strangest experience, as if He was behind me to back me up, but also within me moving through me at the same time. I heard a count in my head of 1,2 and my arms began to swing back and forth as if warming up for batting practice. We moved congruently through His command as I heard 3 thunder through my head. I’ve never felt intensity like that moving through me. As our sledgehammers made powerful contact with the bottom corner of the wall, both the foundation and the corner section were demolished. All four corners demolished in one swift swing backed by the power of the Holy Spirit. It felt effortless. All I needed to do was surrender control, recognize who was in the drivers seat and trust that the Lord knows what He is doing. I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed the Holy Spirit.
The Lord put on my heart that we need the Holy Spirit to fully tear down strongholds. There’s no question about it. People can’t deliver themselves without the presence of the Holy Spirit. They can come to church on Sundays. They can look the part, dress the part, act the part and speak the part; but if they don’t understand and have a relationship with the Holy Spirit then they are branches separated from the vine and they will continue to struggle with strongholds. That’s why you see people in the church 30 years still struggling with the same things as 20 years ago. Running in a hamster wheel wondering why their life is the way it is. Wondering why they can’t make any progress. It’s because you need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. It’s because you need as much Jesus and scripture living inside you as you do spewing out of your mouth.
I remember a few days ago I was talking to Leah about not being in church as much and if she wanted to go with me and the Lord very quickly convicted me and corrected me by saying “If you prayed as much as you preach you’d be in better shape, Ash” it takes that relationship with the Lord and time spent with Him to make progress. To breakthrough you need to breakdown and submit your struggles to the Lord. To find peace you need time in His presence. Surrender to succeed.
I saw another quick vision, this time of a bicycle in the middle of a swimming pool. The water was thick, muddy and had a sludgy consistency. There was a man on the bike trying to pedal. His legs would struggle to push the pedals and he was barely able to keep his balance. The wheels would barely spin as he stood up in order to force his body weight onto the pedal for the extra push. No matter how hard he worked, no matter how hard he pushed, he was getting no where. His effort was wasted. His body was wearing out and his mind was under attack with thoughts of failure. All because his effort yielded no progress.
Suddenly I saw the Holy Spirit coming up to the pool. He ran up and cracked the outside of the swimming pool swiftly. The walls of the swimming pool collapsed in every direction and the muddy water slowly dissipated. The countenance of the man of the bike began to change. He looked over at us and smiled. He began to push the pedals and the bike finally moved forward. The more force he used the faster he went. His effort was finally yielding results. Just like that, adding the Holy Spirit and submitting your situation and your life to the Lord will provide you with the answers that will move you in the right direction. I can vouch for this a thousand times over.
Not only do we need to recognize the Father and the Son but we also need to recognize and understand the relationship that the Holy Spirit desires to have with us. So many churches are ok with the Father and the Son but when it comes to the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit the church shys away. It’s time to embrace the Holy Spirit. It’s time to fully embrace the love of the Lord, the fear of the Lord and to understand that He is at the gate. It’s time to stop the struggling Christian. It’s time to breakthrough! It’s time to surrender.
Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Isaiah 11:2 - And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isaiah 40:31 - But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Psalms 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Isaiah 41:13 - For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Ephesians 3:19 - And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Jeremiah 31:3 - The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
John 16:12-15
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Matthew 6:25-26 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:30-33 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Romans 12:2 - And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
James 4:10 - Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Proverbs 23:26 - My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
1 Peter 5:6-10
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
John 14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Romans 8:26 - Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
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