Overcoming the Lie of Strongholds

Great Salt Plains in Oklahoma

Hi there friend! Sometime in December, Ashley, from Overcome the Lie contacted me and asked if I would write about a lie God has helped me over come. It honestly couldn't have been better timing because I had been praying that God would connect me to other women bloggers who would encourage my faith and vise versa. Today I'm going to talk about overcoming Strongholds in our lives.
Before I share some things I wanted to talk a bit about the organization 'Overcome the Lie'. If you haven't heard of them it's an organization that encourages women to 'overcome the lie because Jesus overcome the grave'. How powerful is that?! They have a twitter party at 9pm EST on Wednesdays, have connect groups, will pray for you and lots of other awesome things. I'd encourage you to head over to their website (links on bottom of this post) and get connected.

Although I have been asked to write, I'm not writing just a 'guest post'. I'm writing because I believe there is a message that needs to be delivered. I've seen God bring me out of strongholds and I know He desires the same for you. Honestly, I can't imagine being delivered and not sharing the lessons and faithfulness of God I have seen. I'm also not here to lay out all the details about my past. I'm here to share about what the Lord has done and how through Him we have victory.

Overcoming Strong Holds

What is a Strong Hold?

The word 'strong hold' is found in II Corinthians 10:4. In the Greek it means the following: a castle, stronghold, fortress, fastness, anything on which one relies (BLB). Basically a strong hold is anything in your life, other than Jesus, that you are relying on or that has a hold on you. It can be anything from an ungodly relationship, apathy, not spending enough time in prayer, over eating, and on and on. If someone or something has more influence over you than Jesus - it's a strong hold.

To be honest, my strong hold lasted a whole whopping long and difficult 5+ years and I believed a lot of lies. If you think about it, a lie starts with someone giving you information. Although it's false information it does start in your head. To counteract lies we have to start with our mind - fill it with the truth of God's Word. I'm going to share with you some of the lies I believed and what verses God gave me to help me overcome them.

The Lies

Lie #1 – I’ll never be fully free from “whatever your stronghold is”

When you are entangled in a lie it is so easy for your emotions to tell you won't be free from it. When you feel that way I hope you will remember these words, spoken by Jesus himself: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVES..." (Luke 4:18). I know we 'know' this but I'm here to say it again, Jesus didn't just tell people to be free, he went to a cross and died a brutal death to do that for us. He means it when he promises to set us free.

Lie #2 – I've tried and messed up too many times to try again. 
I hate to break it to you but when you are over coming strong holds sometimes it isn't an instant victory but rather a process. Yes, you will often fall flat on your face, again, and feel ashamed. The enemy will be right there, telling you to just stay down. Here is what God has to say though: "For a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again (Proverbs 24:16a). Seven times! That's a lot and you know what? I think it's beyond seven times. Jesus said to forgive 70 x 7 and if He expects that of us He will offer it to. If you fall down, get back up and start again!

Lie #3 - I can do it!
Wrong! YOU can't do it. So many times we think victory over sin comes from just trying hard enough. No one can just 'try hard enough'. The power of victory comes through Jesus Christ. Victory comes through reading the Bible and renewing your mind, prayer, attending church and having Godly people to encourage and hold you accountable. We just weren't meant to fight battles alone. I know when I went through my hard times I would often listen to sermons and I had several friends that I knew I could call any time for encouragement or help.

Lie #4 - I'm not loved
This lie can come from our own emotions or from someone telling us that. However, Jesus has loved us with an everlasting love! I can't tell you how many times I was struggling and I'd finally sit down with my Bible expecting to read some verse on God's coming judgment. However, when I opened the Word, time and time again I came across the word lovingkindness. My favorite verse on this is Jeremiah 31:3 "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindess have I drawn thee". Friend, you are loved!

Lie #5 - I'm too damaged and won't be fully restored
I believed this for the longest time. However, I went to a women's retreat and the speaker keyed in on Joel 3:25-27 "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten ... and ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you ... and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed". Let me do a bit of explaining ... the locust came and ate the Israelites fields. Fields, in Bible days, meant food, it meant survival. Locusts ate the present seed and future seed and could damage a crop for 250 years! I view the locusts as 'sin' and 'strongholds'. They take years from your life. However, God promised to restore it. Isn't that odd? How can God restore a year that has passed? Honestly, I don't know how He does that but he does! I wrote those verses out, claimed that promise, and God did it. He restored to me much much more than I lost. I'm still amazed at how that all happened but I'm glad He did it.

If you are battling something today I encourage you to get in God's Word and write out some verses. When those lies creep in fight them with The Truth you have. God is here to give you an abundant life and He loves you very much! If you are his child the power of the resurrection that raised Jesus from the dead is within you wanting to free you from sin.

Also, if you have questions, need encouragement or want prayer I'm available. You can e-mail me at sunshine2thesquareinch@gmail.com any time.

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