Stronghold Beliefs Part 1 Series

Stronghold Beliefs Part 1

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Luke 2:41-50; John 4:34; 5:19

Last week, in my Memorial Day message, I shared with you what takes place when a new recruit enters the military. I told you about the discipline training they receive which could potentially lead them to sacrifice their life for the good of others (and country.) That discipline, which equips the person to be willing to do this, is an example of a strong belief that the individual holds internally. No serviceman or servicewoman would be so strongly convinced to give their life for another without their already possessing the internal, strong, and unwavering belief that this was the right thing (and their duty) to do. These internal, strong and unwavering beliefs that we all have in some areas of our life is the focus of this series I’ve titled “Stronghold Beliefs.”

Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.) Casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Paul says that the “weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” I want you to keep these verses in mind as I will refer back to them throughout this series.

As you can imagine from reading Second Corinthians 10, stronghold beliefs can have a negative connotations as it relates to beliefs in our lives that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. In this series I will not focus solely on the negative connotations of stronghold beliefs, but a majority of our time will be spent on those stronghold beliefs that we need to develop in order to have the relationship with God that He wants to have with us to equip us achieve those things that God has assigned for us to accomplish. Before I go further, I want to spend a few minutes reviewing the definitions of stronghold beliefs after which we will examine a stronghold belief that Jesus held throughout His life. In the upcoming weeks, we will examine some additional stronghold beliefs that all of us should develop which will equip us to stand strong in these last days. Let’s start with the definition of the words belief, strong, hold and stronghold belief.

Belief is defined as the “acceptance by the mind that something is true or real, often supported (or fortified) by an emotional or spiritual sense of certainty.” When the mind accepts something as true and then it is fortified by an emotional or spiritual sense of certainty, then it becomes a belief. At this point it is just a belief which could change when challenged with new information and/or argument. For the purposes of this message I want to use this definition for the word strong: “able to withstand great force or pressure.” This could apply to something built (like a home built to withstand a hurricane or tornado) or it can also apply to the mental power of a person (someone who has the internal fortitude to withstand outside pressures.) Strong in this sense is represented by the internal power or fortitude. The next word is hold. There are several definitions of this word as it is both a verb and a noun. For the purposes of this message I want to focus on the use of the word as a noun. The definition is, “an act or manner of grasping something; power or control.”

The individual definitions of the words belief, strong and hold give rise to the definition of the words stronghold beliefs. There are two definitions of stronghold that I want to share. The first definition is “a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.” This definition often refers to a physical place or structure. In this definition it defines the structure as being “able to withstand great outside force or pressure” in the sense of an assault (i.e. an enemy or dangerous weather conditions.) I want you to see two images. The first is a fortress, a structure with walls so high and thick it is almost impregnable. It is designed to keep the intruders out. Do you remember the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho from the book of Joshua chapter six? The people of Jericho had absolutely no fear of ever being attacked because of the walls they had constructed around their city. Those walls were built to keep their occupants in and their enemies out. They were fortified. This is the reason God had to bring those walls down – the Children of Israel alone did not have the power or strength to do it. God dispatched His angels who ultimately pushed the walls into the ground flattening them allowing the Israelites to walk into the city and take it over. The city of Jericho and their walls is an example of the first definition of stronghold and just like Paul stated in Second Corinthians 10:3-5, God pulled them down! When the Children of Israel obeyed the Word of God, the walls of Jericho, their stronghold, came tumbling down! Stronghold beliefs crumble in the presence of being obedient to God’s Word! Our obedience to God’s Word will bring down the stronghold beliefs in our lives that are not of Him.