Spiritual Battles: Overcoming Strongholds of the Mind and Soul with Faith

Understanding spiritual battles and strongholds of the mind and soul.

The supernatural miracle of the renewal of the mind and its connection to faith.

The importance of trusting in God as our refuge and stronghold.

The role of the Holy Spirit in overcoming spiritual strongholds and living a victorious Christian life.

Today, we're going to be talking about We're going to speak about the spiritual battles and strongholds of the mind and the soul. Last week we talked about the supernatural miracle of the renewal of the mind. This renewal or transformation of the mind is a whole new way of thinking and living in our Lord Jesus Christ. This new way of thinking is brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit working in a believer's life. this new way of thinking is not with our old mind of flesh but now it is with the mind of Christ the old mind of flesh was the burdensome baggage of anger, doubt, addictions, jealousies, spitefulness torments of the mind, perversions of all kinds and so on these are called sins because they are called lawlessness or transgressions against the will of God As mentioned, this awesome miracle is the divine work and power of the Holy Spirit working in a willing individual who is hungry for the promises, the knowledge, peace and joy of God's will to be the rule and center of their life now. For those listening on radio internet or the audio Christian teachings on Shining Light Ministries website, this message again is called The Supernatural Miracle of the Renewal of the Mind. As a part two follow-up today, we are going to talk about the spiritual strongholds that prevent an individual from actually experiencing true security, contentment, joy, peace, and absence of war in their minds. Please understand, the peace the Bible speaks of is an inner tranquility and stability in the Christian whose trust is in God. through the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross. The peace that Jesus speaks about is a combination of hope, trust, and calm quietness in the mind and soul brought about by a true reconciliation with Creator God. This is all a direct result with a personal faith in Jesus Christ. True peace of the mind is not possible in any other way, No matter how many books one may read or other doctrines people may come up with, which try to circumvent the true path and way to the Father's heart. Knowing that we all like titles, we are going to call this message today, Spiritual Battles and Strongholds of the Mind and Soul. First of all, I believe we need to start with what God's word tells us in whom and where our refuge and stronghold is found. King David, in Psalms 9, verses 9 and 10, declares, The Lord also will be a refuge, a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble, high cost, destitution and desperation. Verse 10, And they who know your name, who have experienced and acquainted with your mercy, will lean on and confidently put their trust in you. For you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek and inquire of you on the authority of God's word and in right of their necessity. And Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 3 through 5, declares, For though we walk, we live in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, for they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds. Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings in every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is our place of safety if we place our trust and place our confidence in Him. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us if we lean confidently and habitually on him. Apostle Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare and strongholds as believers in Jesus Christ are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are powerful supernatural weapons of warfare that disarm the devil and his co-laborers because we are trusting and living in accordance to this new way of life in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that the battles begin in the mind with our thoughts. And King David shows us many scriptures that he prayed continually for the cleansing in heart life. In fact, he cried out from the deep chasms of his soul for the help from stumbling, falling, bad thoughts, thoughts that were hateful, and even the temptations that rose up against him. We have to ask ourselves, why did David pray for the cleansing of his soul and his appeal for help from the sanctuary? Well, it was because his inmost faults were truly secret. They were a secret from David himself. David knew that only God could save him from the prison of his mind and soul. In Jeremiah chapter 17, verses 9 and 10, the Lord tells us why. The heart is deceitful above all things and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely mortally sick. Who can now perceive or understand and be acquainted with his own heart and mind? Verse 10, I the Lord search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing. In Mark chapter 7 verse 20, Jesus declared, What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For it is from within, out of a man's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander. arrogance and folly All of these evils come from the inside and make a man unclean Our Savior is confirming that whatever comes out of a man heart is what makes him unclean And this is why King David prayed for God to cleanse his heart and make him pure. Jesus provided everything we need regarding this victory, dear one. He requires that we do what is right and to stop sinning. He requires that we obey his word, not just a part of it, but all of it. First and foremost, he requires that we love him with all of our hearts, all of our souls, all of our minds, everything that is within us. By God Almighty's power alone, he brought the Israelites as a needy people to whom he had pity on into the promised land. and God will bring you and me through also if we are habitually obedient to his commands. Our Heavenly Father delights in helping his people, but we must understand one thing. He does not delight in people's can't do it myself or I am self-sufficient and need no one's help. God warned the Israelites in taking the land of Canaan. In Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 17, you may say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. Verse 18, but remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers as it is today. In the account of 1 John 3, verse 8, the beloved apostle John tells us that he who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to overthrow the devil's work. Verse 9, no one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning because he's been born of God. Verse 10, and this is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. We have read the scriptural account in the book of Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 7, where we saw that the promised land of Canaan was not a type of heaven. but rather it was a type of meeting with our spiritual enemies and driving them out in order to live a victorious Christian life in Jesus Christ. It is a place where we consider ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ. The ites spoken of in these chapters are the seven nations of Canaan. God commissioned Joshua to go forth and cast these physical ites out before they took the land. This act of Joshua in his book is a likeness, a picture which shapes into a prophetic picture or type of our literally taking possession of our land through the help of precious Holy Spirit with these spiritual ites. These eyes represent the evil spirits that trouble our hearts and souls before our salvation experience. And even afterwards, while our salvation is being worked out, as Paul spoke about in Philippians 2, verse 12, Therefore, my beloved, as you've also obeyed, not only in my presence, but now how much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Verse 13, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. Let's look again at these ites and see what they really represent in Deuteronomy 7, verses 1 and 2. When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and drives out before you many nations, the Hittites, Gragasheites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, the Hivites, Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you, verse 2, and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. looking at each one of these we see that the Hittites were a people according to Joshua 9.24 who tricked Joshua into a covenant they answered Joshua saying your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servants Moses to give you the whole land to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you so we feared for our lives because of you and that is why we did this We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems right to you. So Joshua saved them from the Israelites and did not kill them. 27. That day he made the Gibbonites woodcutters and the water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the place that the Lord would choose. That is what they are to this day. These Hittite spirits signify the spirits of fear and discouragement. In Hebrew, this name Hittite means terror. These spirits discourage the soul continually with false fears, which habitually cause sudden and great fear or terror. These evil spirits' purpose or design is to keep the soul from a finishing work in Jesus Christ. These Hittite spirits raise up what the Bible calls infidelity. And this means, according to Webster's Dictionary, one who is not a Christian or who opposes Christianity, one who has no religious belief, an atheist. This spirit causes false reasoning through its earthly wisdom with continued disputing the faith and the power of God. it will tell you that it is impossible to come into perfection or maturity and that you will never overcome sin and self and the temptations and the assaults of the devil. This Hittite spirit will continue to discourage the soul keeping it from going on into perfection or maturity. but please remember that the spirit of faith in the name of jesus christ and the blood of jesus does conquer and overcome these hittites in your life when you obey god's commands remember it is not by power nor might but by my spirit says the lord almighty the second that we look at are the Amorites and they signify bitter and fierce talking and judging spirits They have no bounds in their judging as they will leap from one thing to another without an ounce of compassion All of their judging is from the root of bitterness. Their name, according to the Hebrew dictionary, means warlike, lofty, clatter. Clatter is someone who makes a bunch of noise. They bring confusion into the room. They descend from Ham's son, who was brilliant, but he had the greatest tendency to degeneracy because they opposed and had hatred for the truth of God's word and God's ways. These perverse spirits would rather cause the soul to practice revenge, eye for an eye. They waited in the dark to bring revenge. They are unforgiving and merciless, and in their fierceness they rage against meekness, which is compassion and the law of love and tenderness and kind behavior. Clearly said, this Amorite spirit is of envy, jealousy, and rash judging. This is the very reason that Jesus came. He came to make a way for true believers victorious living in him by giving of his Holy Spirit to live within every true believing Christian who longs for the truth and way of God Almighty. The third we look at is the nation of the Canaanites, which signify and mean, according to the Hebrew dictionary, trader or merchants. these people were famous as merchants and for their artistic skill although they had many gods the sun god was their most notable god these merchandising spirits take up continual occupation in our minds our wills and thoughts and in our senses and in our imaginations and yes even in our affections. They trap the soul into false concerns. And they will convince you of what you are thinking and doing is good and right. You become so preoccupied with false cares. They will even act in the moment as you try to come close to the Lord God. And they put deep wedges or valleys between your coming into true relationship relationship with your Savior by disrupting the necessary silence and pure stillness you need to learn in order to truly know the Lord your God. Their purpose is to keep you over-concerned with yourself and all things that concern you. The fourth is the parasites, and they represent the careless, secure spirit that open the door to false freedoms. They form a screen or a shield around the individual, making it unable to see or know the hidden dangers that await them like traps. Their name means villagers. They didn't put up walls around their cities. They had unwalled towns. They entered marriage with their captors and seduced the Israelites into idolatry. These Perizzite spirits will try to seduce the soul into false freedoms before the crucifying work of the Holy Spirit is done in your life. These spirits labor to take us off of our watchfulness in order to make us neglect the work of the cross, which Jesus won for our freedom from these ites. They come to oppress the life of Christ in us and desire to cause us to forsake our continual progress of circumcision of our hearts as we walk in this Christian path. They are purposed to get their toe in a door and keep us from going on into the perfection or maturity of our Lord Jesus Christ. King Solomon in the book of Judges captured and forced the Perizzites into forced labor. And Jesus has given us the authority and power to overcome these evil spirits that continually harass us. The fifth one are the Hivites, the talking spirits that move us to talk of vain and needless things. they were descendants of Ham and the Hebrew dictionary says they were an impulsive unsuspicious people who would fall for gaining wealth rather than waging war to defend themselves they would rather talk idly rather than fight many in this clan were murdered by Simeon and Levi after they assaulted their sister Diana Joshua made them servants These spirits are designed to awaken vain thoughts and imaginations, and they deceitfully endeavor to inspire empty fantasies, romantic scenes, and impure thoughts, and they will shift through your thought life and preoccupy your time with sinful ideas. They love to cause many, many words and vain thinking, especially amongst the intellectuals, with long discourses and great speculations and unnecessary disputes. Many people are trapped by their snares. They never know it unless they're awakened to the truth by the Holy Spirit. As a Christian, we are to exemplify a life of humility, of innocence and simplicity, which the Lord finds more beautiful than all the other gifts or knowledge. The six that we look at, it's called the Jebusites. They are a type of spirit signifying pride and self-elevation. King David ran up against these people in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 5. They mocked David and said that he would never get in their fortress. They mocked him by saying, even the blind and the lame can fight you off, King David. you are no match for us. We have to understand that pride and disdain were the defeat of these people. And today this fortress that King David took back in his day is called the city of David. God was with him. David's son Solomon put these bragging Jebusites into forced labor by making them slaves. And the name Jebusite signifies to trample upon and despise. These evil spirits are designed to cause the soul to despise meek and humble people in the way of the cross of Jesus Christ. They elevate themselves above the power and love of Jesus for his people. These spirits desire to cause apostasy by puffing us up in spiritual pride, making us think of ourselves as perfect and good just the way we are. Pride is the opposite of humility Humility is found only in Jesus Christ alone And we are told that we are to become like the innocent Lamb of God by casting out all pride and self-life. And lastly, number seven are the Gargashawite spirits. According to the Hebrew meaning, Gargashawites mean those who dwell in clay soil. These are earthy, dirty spirits that tempt and draw us into the earthy life and all of its vanities. These Krakashewite spirits represent the animal nature of man, which cause excessive lusts and perversions within the soul. These are totally against the law of God's purity in all things and manner for his chosen people. all of these sinful ites which we have just covered were conquered by Joshua in the Old Testament Joshua represents the type of Jesus who was yet to come Joshua means Jehovah saves the book of Joshua demonstrates God's faithfulness to his promises by leading Israel into the land of Canaan as he led them out of Egypt now for us Jesus Christ has come and he has provided everything we need regarding the ites in our lives Jesus has won the battle by taking the keys of life of death from Satan the devil and he now lives in true believers and gives us the keys and power to overcome every ite in our lives he says trust in me cooperate with me love me and we together will be victorious in kicking the ites out of your life just as Joshua conquered the physical ites in his day through the process of time you co-labor with the Lamb of God through his Holy Spirit who loves you and says to you and me in the New Testament The same words that he spoke to Joshua on the day he commissioned him. These words are found in Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 15. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. for our struggle is not with flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm verse 13 therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to stand stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled about your waist and with the breastplate of righteousness in place. Let us learn from the life of this young warrior Joshua, who was almost without blemish and who learned to obey the Lord with childlike faith, with devout and deep reverence and worship for his God. Take the words for yourself and apply them in your life and trust God. and what he says in Joshua chapter 1 verses 4 through 9. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the laws of my servant Moses he gave you. Do not turn from it to the left or to the right, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night, so you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. And finally, one of the key things for true believers in Christ to remember in order to overcome these heights is to bring into captivity every thought. We must avoid wrong self-estimate by thinking too highly of ourselves. Neither overestimate nor underestimate oneself. Someone wrote regarding being careful in our journey is mainly conscience awareness. They wrote, watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. watch your habits they become character watch your character it becomes your destiny so very true as a believer in Jesus Christ we have our part in working out our own salvation in the synergistic work with the Holy Spirit it is just saying no to the things of the devil yes to the truth and the things of God Almighty beware of pride, vanity, conceit and kindred vices cultivate humility by living in the presence of God and his holy word called the Bible his holiness and greatness empowers us to keep fresh and high ideals pride cannot exist where humility dwells and finally for our departing scripture 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5 declares, Though we walk and live in the flesh, we are not caring about our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds. Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One. May our Lord Jesus Christ be praised for His undying love and generous grace, which He lavishes upon us as we submit to His way and the truth of His Word. Thank you.

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