Blessing

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strongholds

It's become painfully obvious President Obama has lied to us about Obamacare a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act. Yes, the leader of the free world (just think about that one!) is a liar and cannot be trusted.  Is he the first president to lie?  No.  The last?  Probably not.

 Keep in mind this isn’t the first time President Obama has been caught in a lie.  Perhaps we should notice who it is he so easily lies to – for instance, Cardinal Dolan:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303816504577311800821270184

I find it very disturbing that the President finds it so easy to lie to a “man of the cloth” – more specifically, a Christian “man of the cloth.”  To sit in front of Cardinal Dolan and lie to him, face to face, on more than one occasion, tells me a lot.  This goes beyond politics.  This is spiritual. 

But wait a minute.  Aren't we culpable at least in part?  We Americans have been lulled into a stupor through our life style and our comforts.  We will go along with status quo in order to maintain that level of comfort.  If you look at most of the world, it doesn’t begin to compare with the decadence and lavishness of this country.  People rise each morning in most of the world with one goal – survival.  We arise each morning with the goal of how to please ourselves – what to have for breakfast – where to stop off for a latte -  who to meet for lunch – what to watch on TV when we sit down that night. 
 
Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
 
To deceive somebody means to make another person believe a lie or something that is not true.  When the enemy sends deception your way, it is an attempt to deceive you into believing something that is not true, so you will fall into error.   Strongholds are built through deception.  A stronghold is formed when deception takes hold in a person’s mind.  A stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern that stems from believing something that is not true.  From the beginning, Satan deceived Eve into believing that God’s Word was not true.  In Genesis 3:4, the devil told her that she will not surely die as God said she would in Genesis 2:17. (from the Great Bible Study)

The enemy has taken a stronghold of many minds in this country through the deception that God has blessed us with abundance for our enjoyment and pleasure.  True, God has allowed this country to prosper, but when much is given, much is expected in return. (reference Luke 12:48)  And now we have a country where over 48% of the people receive assistance from the government – which is taking it from the other 52%.  But here is the real question -  how did this happen?  Can we really blame one person or even the government?  The government is for and by the people – so aren’t the people to blame?  They have voted for those who would give them more and more and more – knowing it could not last forever.  But in our greed and lust, we couldn’t resist the enemy and his lies, so we allowed him to blind our eyes.  And perhaps now the day has come when the price must be paid.  Yet we still refuse to look in the mirror and realize we are part of the problem.  We still want to blame someone else, something else, anyone else.
 
A stronghold is deception that’s taken hold in a person’s mind.  It’s an incorrect thinking pattern based on a believed lie.  People can get incorrect perceptions by listening to Satan.  Nothing in this country will change until we get to the root of the problem - and it's not the people in Washington - they aren't the root - they are the result. 

Since strongholds are built upon lies that we have been fed, the way we tear down strongholds is by feeding on the truth (in God’s Word), which is the opposite of what the enemy has been feeding us.  If the enemy has been feeding us a lie, we need to stop eating the lie and start feeding ourselves the truth.  The weapon we use to tear down strongholds is found in Ephesians 6:17, “… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  A sword is an offensive weapon and is meant to tear down and kill the enemy’s troops.  Strongholds are the devil’s assets in war, and he uses them against us. Take up the sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) today, and start slaughtering the enemy’s assets that he’s been using against you!

Perhaps we should remember this the next time we want to put all the blame on President Obama and Congress.  They are simply a product of this country and where it is spiritually.  We have failed to fight the battles and now we must tear down the stronghold the enemy has built.  Take out your Bible today and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom as you read it.