To many a stronghold means a negative word but that is not always the case. In the dictionary the meaning of the word stronghold means
A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld.
In the Bible the meaning of a stronghold is this.
For every negative stronghold, there is a powerful way to surround it with the opposite truth from God.
In this realm there are lots of negativity going on everyday and these lies are not from the kingdom of God but from the kingdom of darkness. And this is why we need to always stay in the WORD of God. The bible is the only truth that can pull down any type of stronghold in our lives.
We have different types of stronghold, there is the
- Spiritual stronghold
- Physical stronghold
- Financial stronghold
- Mental stronghold
- Emotional stronghold
- Social stronghold
The Enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but thank God that Jesus came to give us life in abundance . Not accepting the truth of the WORD of God and believing in the lies of the enemy will cause the lies of the enemy to become a stronghold in our lives. A stronghold can be as simple as having a false inner belief that God will not do the things he has promised us in His WORD. And this is a lie from the kingdom of darkness, Psalm 62:11 says this that God has spoken once, twice have I heard that power belongs to God alone.
The WORD says this about God in the book of Numbers 23:19
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
And in Hebrews 6:18a
That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie.
Other translations put it this way
So that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie- AMP
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. - NIV
There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. - GNT
And in Psalm 89:35
Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David:
It is not possible for God who is the creator of the universe, who created us in his image and likeness, who gave up His own begotten Son and delivered us from darkness to lie to us.
There was no God before God and there will never be another God. he is the Omnipresent God - He is present everywhere at the same time.
God is the unchangeable changer!
Psalms 102:27 records this
But You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Jesus is our stronghold!
This means He became our Shield, Deliverer, Protector, Fortress, Anchor and Refuge!
Let's check the scriptures that tells us about Jesus been our stronghold.
Psalms 18:2
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalms 62:6
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defence;
I shall not be moved.
Psalms 46: 1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
2 Samuel 22:2
And he said:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer"
Nahum 1:7
The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And He knows those who trust in Him.
Reading the book of Psalms 91 is also proving to us that God is our stronghold in times of trouble.
Jesus is our stronghold!
He became our stronghold when He chose to lay down His life in our place. And when we accept the gift of salvation He is obligated to us. Jesus' love for us will always cause Him to do what we ask for in His name, if we ask in faith.
Romans 8:32 says
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
God did not spare His Son but gave Him up for us all and because of this God promises us that He will not withhold any good thing from us. God is good! Jesus paid the price in full to set us free . He is our Anchor, He became our Rock and Deliverer.
There is no one that can deliver like Jesus, all we need to do is to believe in the finished work of Jesus.
A stronghold is just a lie from the Kingdom of darkness to put the people of God into bondage, when we are bound by the enemy, there is nothing much that we can do all the wonderful plans that our father as for us will not come to manifestation in our lives. Why? because we believe more in the lies of the enemy than we believe in the truth of the WORD of God.
Scripture says
We shall KNOW the truth and the truth will set us free from every bondage. when we abide in His WORD - which is the truth, we can use His WORD to silence every lie of the wicked ones. Satan who is the god of this world has put a veil in the minds of children of God that is not letting us see the truth of God's WORD.
Are we in His WORD? Do we spend time in His presence enough?
Jesus Himself aid this in John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
And in Luke 11: 27 - 28 He said this to us
And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”
But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
In another translation,
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
We are called to hear and obey God's WORD and not be hearers only but be doers of His WORD.
Jesus became our stronghold!
For Him to be our stronghold we need His WORD in us, we actually let the WORD live in us.
John 1:1 records this powerful verse.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The WORD of God has been from the very beginning and the WORD then became flesh and dwelt among us. When we are in any form of oppression, we need to be able to answer the lies of the enemy with the truth of the WORD of God like Jesus did when He was tempted by the devil in Matthew 4: 1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
We can see that Jesus could answer Satan back with the truth of the WORD and through this He was able to overcome Satan in the time of His temptation.
What do we do when Satan comes to us with his lies.? are we able to reply him with the truth of the WORD of God or do we accept his lies?
By accepting the lies of the enemy we are in a spiritual stronghold until we go into the WORD and know what to say we are being held captive.
There are facts and there is also the truth.
What are the facts?
- Sickness
- Poverty
- Disease
- Doubt
- fear
- Worry
- Does God love me?
What is the truth?
- By His stripes I am healed - Isaiah 53: 4-5
- I am rich through the poverty of Jesus Christ - 2 Corinthians 8:9
- I am blessed with the blessings of Abraham - Galatians 3:14-29
- God has not given be a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind - 2 Timothy 1:7
- God is supplying all my needs according to His riches - Philippians 4:19
- He says we are not to worry - Matthew 6: 25-34
- God loves me with an everlasting love - Jeremiah 31:3
The facts is always there but the truth that we know will defeat the lies that Satan brings to our thoughts - (mind) everyday. If we choose to believe in the truth, the truth will change the facts in our lives.
Also there is power in the Blood of Jesus, because the Blood is our stronghold!
