Wisdom 47 Strongholds; the Heart's Hidden Menace

[HKHaugan]

Wisdom 47 Strongholds; the Heart’s Hidden Menace

 

When we consider the immediate responses of people to circumstances in which they find themselves, it is vital we grasp the fact that what motivates those responses comes from deep inner heart reflexes. The heart is the subject. What happens there determines response. What we need to evaluate is the reason for, the purpose of and the meaning behind those responses. And, because we are disciples of Jesus, we need to do it His way, which is to go to the Word to understand the subject.

 Paul puts it very simply. In Ch.10 of 2 Corinthians he likens the condition of the heart to a battleground. There is a war taking place between what the world expects and what God offers. Verse 3 tells us, “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.” There is a war going on and it is a war in the individual heart that can flow over into the world around us. Paul goes on to say that this war is not fought with worldly weapons but is a much deeper and more personal war. It is a spiritual war waged within the heart and that a believer’s weapons originate with Christ. He identifies the internal struggle as “…demolishing strongholds (vs.4)” which, by their very nature, are spiritual but not of God.

 Let’s look at Paul’s view of the internal struggle we all face. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete (2Cor.10:4-6 NIV).”

 What then is a stronghold? It’s apart-from-God thinking; self-defined arguments, pretensions and thoughts. Simply, it is any thought, idea, concept or conclusion about human experience arrived at apart from God and His Word. Apart from God man tries to set his own pace and destiny without considering what God thinks. Apart-from-God thinking starts right there in Genesis 3 when the devil tempts Eve to think that wisdom, knowing the difference between good and evil, can be had without God. And she buys it! Apart-from-God thinking leads to the heart being beguiled, corrupting not only the mind by self-justification and rationalization but becoming vulnerable to the devil’s arsenal of spirits that isolate and destroy God’s images. The devil is the original apart-from-God thinker. Strongholds and their construction are his specialty. He did a real job on Adam and Eve.

 One more very important thing. Strongholds are spiritual. They are built on the premise that self apart from God is the solution to any and all problems. That, my friends, is what sin is all about. And sin further complicates our experience by not only isolating us from God but isolating us from others and confusing our self-identity. Sin separates and makes us alone. Three things prove this premise:

First, self-centeredness, our initial reaction is always what’s best for me.

Second, fear, our reactions are influenced by what might happen based on past experience of emotional and physical survival.

Third, idolatry, we try whatever it takes to be and look right to fit the moment.

 Strongholds then, are rooted in sin and lived out through self-centeredness, fear and idolatry.

Strongholds are the defenses, based on pretenses acting in sequences we build apart from God to protect our lonely hearts.

 Strongholds are hidden obsessions shaped over periods of time to cover fears.

 Strongholds are prejudices and biases used to make and secure safe interpersonal encounters.

 Strongholds are the ‘safehouses’ hastily constructed to take shelter when being alone among others is our greatest threat.

 While strongholds seem to have control, they are really a mist, a dissipating fog, that disappears when the Son is allowed to shine. Paul describes something we many times don’t realize when faced with a spiritual attack. We have the power for immediate action. “Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (2Cor.10:5).” We can crucify the offending stronghold, the attitude of the moment, and make it bow before the Lord. Those thoughts that have been listed as strongholds are like the spirit that responds to Jesus when He asked Him, ‘What is your name?’ and the spirit answers, “Legion, for we are many.” Jesus then exorcised a demon possessed man driving the evil spirits into a herd of pigs that all drowned in the lake (Mk.5:8-17). We can do the same with attitudes that are longtime or briefly devised.

 One thing common to all evil spirits and strongholds is the arch-spirit, fear. The opposite of fear is faith. “Perfect love casts out fear (1Jn.4:18).” Our consciousness of Jesus (perfect love) is the assurance that whatever spirit or stronghold emerges wherever we are, in Him we have the power over them.