There are strongholds, high things and thoughts that seek to exert a higher force on us to cause us to act in ways other than obedience to God. These things are not necessarily from without but within. They are internal oppositions to obedience in our lives. Strongholds are houses built
by thoughts. They are fortresses built in us as a consequence of our experiences and perceptions, impressions, opinions and thought patterns
that have formed in us what we have come to call our ‘reality’. They usually start as thoughts, when we dwell on them they become our imaginations and grow to become high things. They ultimately become strongholds in our minds. They inform our habits, choices and expectations
in life. When these are seen in the light of the effect of sin on human nature, the type of strongholds in us are not normally positive ones.

Some translations call them arguments, preconceptions and reasoning. Their goal is simple: to war against the knowledge of God. They are primarily the effect of the fall of man. Inside every fallen man are strongholds that rise up against the knowledge of God. After salvation, these fortresses do not disappear or disintegrate completely. In fact a new set seems to spring up after our initial salvation experience. They are called religious strongholds. We are not usually conscious of the kind of preconceptions in our minds; this makes the subject all the more vital for our consideration.

Strongholds can be very present without our awareness of them. They are that subtle. The best time strongholds are identified is when the knowledge of God shows up in our minds. Whenever and from wherever the know ledge of God comes form into our minds, we see so many objections borne of our reasoning faculties show up. Without fail you identify strongholds when the knowledge of what God wants you to do or know shows up inside our minds.

Identify the strongholds in your mind
What kind of thoughts rise up in you when you hear God’s word concerning corrections in your life? Don’t you feel ‘but I am not doing badly too’? When you hear about self denial, something rises up in that says ‘don’t go too far, you are already denying yourself’? When you hear about who you are in Christ, does not a carnal pride about your sense of superiority arise? When some hear ‘give and it shall be given unto you’, a sense or their carnality may picture a gambling process of getting more than you put in as a game of chance. These are just a few examples. When the Spirit of God impresses on your heart to go on a fast, don’t you picture a malnourished, pitiable individual who is trying his best to please God? These are just to show how our imaginations and strongholds show up whenever we have any knowledge of God. An example in the Bible will be Noah who was told by God about the impending doom and instructed to build the Ark. Can you imagine the thoughts that would have passed through his mind? ‘What if it does not happen? What will people think of me? How am I sure this is God not some figment of my imagination?’ Or when the widow of Zarephath was told to make some food for the prophet Elijah, what manner of thoughts do you think must have passed through her mind? I do not know of any one who received the know ledge of God without having to overcome the strongholds in their minds to obey God. Mary, the mother of Jesus was told she would have a baby as a virgin!

Those questions in themselves are not always unreasonable and that is the issue, they are reasonable, very reasonable. So we have an issue here, the thoughts are reasonable but on what parameters are they based, God’s or ours? Are our reasoning faculties faulty? Yes, because they have been trained by the ‘old man’ the satanic nature inherited in Adam. The parameters of our reasoning faculties are faulty where God and His ways are concerned. The same God invites us to reason with Him in the book of Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18. We can reason with God on the basis of His Word. Without His word our reasoning faculties can stand in the way of our obedience to God.

SUMMARY
For the first phase of our study we need to summarise our observations.
* Recognise this warfare, it is an inner conflict empowered by reasoning.
* Recognise the weapons of our warfare, it includes the Word of God, the blood of Jesus and the name of Jesus. Prayer, praise, a joyful attitude and high expectations of faith are lifestyle secrets that can unleash the power in the weapons.
* Recognise the role of the knowledge of God in our lives and our need to match it with obedience of Christ, total obedience. The secret of the many victories in the Word of God is the knowledge of God in the lives of the people who experienced the victories.
* Acting on the Word of God is the key to pulling down strongholds. Faith is acting on the knowledge God gives us about Himself and things around us. Meditation and prayer over God’s Word to you enhances your seeking more insight into His ways and will.

I believe you have been blessed by this message, watch out for the part two next time. You can also visit our websites at

Jesus Is Lord!

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Rev. Kola Ewuosho