THE SCOOP WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
January 14, 2024 / Vol. 2 Southside Church of Christ 800 Elmira Avenue Durham, NC 27707 info@sside.org www.sside.org 919.688.3535 STAFF Orlander R. Thomas Senior Minister William A. Stephens Minister Emeritus Wiley Shearin, Jr. Elder Emeritus D’Andrea Fanning Candice P. Blount Church Administrator Quentella Williams Executive Assistant DEACONS John Alcox Anthony Green, Sr. Arthur Hackney John Mathis Chester Mayfield, Jr. Roger McDougal Joe Williams Keith Wright
WEEKLY WORD Overcoming Strongholds GOD’s Way By RICKI FULLER The first Friday in the year of 2024, and we are here! Glory to GOD! As of this writing, our Leadership Team has chosen for us to focus on “Presently Overcoming Our Past in Pursuit of Our Future.” The primary Scripture for this year’s focus is found in John 16:33 which Jesus is credited as having spoken: “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.] (AMP)” Our Lord Jesus Christ’s words are clear and concise as it pertains to us being ‘overcomers’ in the world in which we live. He presents Himself to us as our victorious example in Whom we are secure. There are numerous strongholds that are posited to throw GOD’s people off track. One source, The House of David Ministries, describes spiritual strongholds as follows: “A spiritual stronghold is a fortress resulting from wrong thinking or beliefs that have taken root in an area of your life. 2. The stronghold can be purely mental or emotional in that only you are aware of its presence, or it can present itself in a physical sense, such as alcoholism or sexual perversion. 3. The core issue in both of these manifestations is your thought life.” The House of David Ministries lists some of the spiritual strongholds as: “Spirit of infirmity, of fear, of occult, of immorality, of pride, of perversion, of Anti-Christ, of depression, of error, of jealousy, of stupor–cannot see or hear.”
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To be clear, without the Lord Jesus Christ as our Rock our Fortress, we cannot overcome any of the strategies nor temptations presented to us on a daily basis by the evil one! We must accept recognize appreciate that those of us who have been baptized into Christ have been and we are crucified with Him according to Galatians 2:20. Being of and in Christ, we are assured that He Is our main source of victory over every obstacle or negative stronghold that comes our way! In recognizing Christ as our Lord Who has overcome all negativity and hatred with which He was confronted, we can believe it when He says we are His and He Is ours! After all, His death on the Cross actually wiped away our sins! Hence, the Word teaches us to renew our minds (Romans 12:2 & Ephesians 4:23); to always pray (Ephesians 6:18), to put on the whole armor of GOD (Ephesians 6:10-11 & 14-17), to study the Word of GOD (II Timothy 3:16), to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21), to abide in GOD and know that He Is Love (I John 4:14 & 16).So, loving GOD, yourself, and other people no matter what helps you/us overcome strongholds as seen in Luke 6:35-38 and Mark 12:30-31. You can overcome this year!
...I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33
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