Stronghold Beliefs Part 2

Stronghold Beliefs Part 2

Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Luke 1:18-20, 64; Romans 10:17

This is Part 2 of my series on Stronghold Beliefs. Last week I shared with you that this series will focus on the stronghold beliefs that we need to develop versus those that need to come down because they exalt themselves against the knowledge of God (Second Corinthians 10:3-5.) I also shared with you in Part 1 that the first stronghold belief that Christians should have is their belief that they need to be about our Father’s business. This belief was the guiding force for everything that Jesus did. He was totally committed to fulfilling the work that His Father had commanded of Him. Likewise we too must have this belief guiding us if we are truly going to fulfill the calling of God on our lives.

This morning I want to share with you how stronghold beliefs are formed and as I mentioned last week, the impact that doubting has on their development. So how do we transition from a position of just believing something to it becoming a stronghold belief that we defend – going from a place of weakness (beliefs that you cannot defend) to one of strength (beliefs that you can completely defend)? Before answering this question, I want to remind you of the definitions I gave you last week for the words belief, strong, hold, and stronghold. For the purposes of this series, 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.” Strong is defined as “able to withstand great force or pressure.” Hold is defined as “an act or manner of grasping something; power or control.” Finally, stronghold is defined as “a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld” and it is this definition that I will be referencing throughout this series.

Now, let me make an observation before I continue. A person who does not have a habit of reading and studying the Bible for themselves but depend on what people say the Bible says, will not be in a position to develop stronghold beliefs he or she can defend. You can sit here and listen to message after message about what God says in the Bible, but if you never get into the Bible and read it and study it for yourself, you will be like the person described in Ephesians 4:14 – a child who hears something he likes and follows it and when something different comes along, will follow that too.

Last week I talked briefly about the walls of Jericho and how those walls were their stronghold. If you recall from Joshua chapter six and verse one, when the Israelites approached Jericho they shut up gates so that no one was able to enter and no one was able to leave. I shared with you that Jericho was located on a hill so to approach the city you had to go up an incline. Also, the walls of Jericho were not one singular wall, there was a three-tier wall system in place which began on an embankment. As you climbed the embankment to approach the city of Jericho, you were met with a retainer wall that stood 12-15 feet high. On top of the stone retaining wall, stood another wall made of mud-bricks, 6 feet thick, and 20 to 26 feet high. Together these two walls combined to form a fortification 32 to 41 feet high. Once you entered the gates of the first double wall, you’d find yourself still looking up as the embankment continued to climb upwards. The third tier was at the very top of the embankment where yet another mud-brick wall stood. At their base, the walls of Jericho stood 46 feet above ground level outside the retaining wall. To the Israelites below, Jericho seemed impenetrable. The illusion created by the two walls on the bottom, and the large wall at the crest of the embankment, seemed to stand nearly 10 stories in height from ground level! From this height, the Israelites must have seemed like ants, and surely were deemed no threat whatsoever.

When you consider the work that went into these walls, Jericho was probably one of the safest places to be if there was an attack. First the attacking force had to climb uphill to attack the city and secondly when they did they were met with three very tall walls. A lot of planning went into the creation of their walls and I am sure they were proud of their accomplishment. In truth, the Israelites could not have taken that city without the help of God because the city was truly impregnable. The engineers and workers had done their jobs well and made sure that every piece of the wall was manufactured and placed according to the plans.