Sarah’s Corner
Volume 95 - 19, May 2019
www.thecarpenterschurch.org/sarahscorner
Understanding
Strongholds (Part 1)
Pastor Charles Omofomah 1 “Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ — who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that conBidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the Blesh. 3 For though we walk in the Blesh, we do not war according to the Blesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulBilled.” 2 Corinthians 10:1-6
fastened to them and they just stay there. One of the deBinitions of a stronghold is a castle. It means that strongholds are conspicuous and can be seen. If you build a little house, somebody may not see the house, but everyone sees a castle. Strongholds have a strong hold over people who allow their hold over their lives. When you take a closer look at the Scripture, you will discover that there is no single word about demons. In fact, this Scripture is mostly used for spiritual warfare. Nothing was said about demons when this Scripture is used. It is used when people are talking about territorial demons and you hear things like, “Demons in the atmosphere…” and how they need to be pulled down at midnight. This Scripture, however, says nothing about demons and I want this to be established in your minds as you read this article.
”Stronghold” is a combination of two words, “strong” and “hold.” The Strong’s
I believe that there are territorial demons because when the Bible was talking
Exhaustive Concordance, deBines “stronghold” to mean to fortify through the
about Daniel, it says, the prince. So, we know it was making reference to
idea of holding safely a castle; :iguratively it refers to an argument; a
Satan. I believe there are territorial demons. Yet, the Bible says, “The
stronghold. The Dictionary deBines a stronghold to be a fastness, or forti:ied
heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth He has given to the
refuge. Let’s just use a very simple illustration. A fortress is a place where
children of men (Psalm 115:16). The earth was given to our Birst parents
anything is in great strength. If you turn the word round, you will get my very
Adam and Eve, but they sold it out to Satan. So, as long as Adam has a lease on
kindergarten deBinition of a stronghold, which means to hold strongly or hold
the earth, which he sold out to Satan, demons will remain here. So, if you
fast.
Strongholds Need To Be Pulled Down 4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” 2 Corinthians 10:4
want people to be free, give them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and set them free. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). We are not denying the existence of demons; we are just saying that when you get born again you change location. So, the devil no longer has hold over you. Another reason why strongholds need to be pulled down is because when the Bible says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God,
The Birst thing you need to know about a stronghold is that it has a strong
to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4), it simply means that
hold over you and needs to be pulled down. From our Bible text and
if you allow them to get a hold over you, it becomes a powerful force. You
deBinitions, you can see that strongholds need to be pulled down. This can
don’t just tell it to leave you alone because it has become a powerful force
only happen when you are conscious of your rights and authority in Christ as
that needs to be pulled down. In your mind you may be thinking that the way
a child of God. Everybody has one stronghold or the other in one area of their
to pull them down is to cast them out. However, the Bible doesn’t necessarily
life or the other. Strongholds have strong hold over people because they are
say that.
The Carpenter’s Ministry: All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.
Sarah’s Corner
Volume 95 - 19, May 2019
www.thecarpenterschurch.org/sarahscorner
Strongholds Are Built In The Arena Of Your Mind 5 “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5
Another thing you need to know about strongholds is that they are created or built in the arena of your mind. The Bible shows us how this happens. Thoughts take place in the mind. There are two main elements in the arena of your mind, and they are your memory and your imagination. Let us study them brieBly.
Memory
Imagination You can have a very active imagination when you have a very active memory. If it has to do with sickness, you will imagine yourself lying in a cofBin, which you had nailed by yourself. You can even think of or imagine you saw your loved ones that are in heaven. So, you console yourself with the thought that at least it won’t be that lonely in heaven. You start imagining how everybody will cry for you and what they will say at your funeral. You may even ask yourself, “So when I die, who will take care of my children?” You may spend a good amount of your time just lying down there imagining vain things. So, if you imagine it, it will happen. Imaginations are simpler when there is something that is propelling it. I will
You may not have had the opportunity to live a moral life before you became
tell you what I mean. People call imaginations “building castles in the air”.
saved, and you lived a very rough life back then. Let’s assume that, as a
However, one thing I discovered is that imaginations don’t just happen, there
woman, you got married, from the Birst year through to the seventh year or
are things that fuel it, which are what you hear and what you see. Imaginations are such a powerful force that Jesus Christ
even more, you could not have a child. There is every
describes them as real. He said if you just look at a
possibility that your memory will remind you of
woman lustfully, you have already committed
the abortions you may have committed. It
adultery (Matthew 5:28). This means
may even tell you that in the course of
that if a man sees a woman and
carrying out those abortions, your
look at her shape and contours,
womb was destroyed. As you think these thoughts, they
and in his imagination, strips
become strongholds. It does not
her naked and has sex with her,
matter anymore how long your
Jesus says it is strong and
pastor spends counselling and
powerful as being real. Meanwhile, it was all in the realm of your
praying with you, your mind
imagination.
would still keep whispering, “What about the abortions?”
The word “imagination” also means an Let’s bring it home. You may have noticed a small swelling on one part of your body, and believe God that it will
argument. The imagination gives rise to arguments based on the person’s experience. The reason for this is because
dematerialize. Instead, it starts getting bigger. Just then, your memory
whenever you carry out what is in your imagination, it becomes an
brings to your notice your father who died seven years ago after a
experience. Experiences carried out over and over again become a habit,
debilitating sickness, and how the sickness started with a very small
which turns into a stronghold. At this point, the stronghold becomes an
swelling just like the one you have and in the same position. No matter how
argument against everything that you have ever heard and believed in the
many times people tell you, “By His stripes you are healed,” you are unable
Word of God. For some people, it may be what they learnt in school. You may
to acknowledge it because your thoughts have become a big castle, which
have learnt that, as a woman, it will be difBicult, almost impossible to have
now has a huge hold over your life. You are not seeing Christ’s stripes; you
children once you get to your mid-forties to Bifties. You have been taught in
are seeing your father. If these memories or thoughts are not dealt with,
church that God is no respecter of persons. If Sarah could get pregnant and
they will turn you into a piece of bread for the devil, to be manipulated
have a child in her nineties, then, nothing is impossible with God. However,
anyway he wants.
in your unguarded moments, your memory reminds you of menopause.
Another way your memory can become a stronghold is when you listen to people talk about generational curses, most especially, the preachers that preach about them on the television. When you encounter such preachers on the television, change the channel; do not listen to them. If you do not quit listening to them, fear will take hold of your mind, fear brings torments and is able to create a stronghold. That is why it is important that you stay away from evil, even if you are not born again because they have the ability to torment you through your memory.
What you have learnt in school becomes a stronghold, which becomes an argument against the Word of God. This is why you should be careful of what you feed your mind, what you hear, see and watch. These things may become strongholds in your mind, which will turn into arguments over everything that you have heard and believed in God’s Word. We will Bind out more about strongholds in the next article.
To be continued
The Carpenter’s Ministry: All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.