theinspiredhillbilly

Over the last few weeks, God has been really leading me in my personal study time in the direction of spiritual warfare.  Not only has this theme been present in my daily Scripture reading and personal prayer time, but I’ve also been drawn to a great book by Neil T. Anderson, “The Bondage Breaker.”  Now, let me say for all my great Apostolic readers and friends, Mr. Anderson does not share our outlook on the New Birth experience, and there are a couple of places within the book it’s necessary to filter his writing through that great Truth we are walking in, however, Mr. Anderson is Spirit filled and it is obvious there is so much we can glean from this book, I recommend it to anyone wanting to know about the freedom we have in Christ.

Paul wrote to a very “spiritually aware” church at Corinth, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war  after the flesh; (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations; and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ: “ II Corinthians 10:3-5. 

Paul was addressing a new, and formerly very sinful and fleshly group of people.  There had been many ways of thinking and social norms they had been a part of prior to their conversion, and now as they had received the Holy Ghost, there were many obstacles they were encountering in their attempt to live in the Spirit.  You see, strongholds aren’t any kind of physical chain that is placed around our neck or arms to hold us back from being who God desires us to be, but strongholds are those old thought patterns that we became used to thinking, or that might have been implanted into our life from past experiences, memories, or even child hood.  Strongholds are those old thought processes about ourselves, our families, our society, and even God.  It’s also the learned responses to those thought processes that we’ve become accustomed to having, and our way of handling life.

Just because we’ve been born of the water and the Spirit, and the Holy Ghost has taken abode in us, doesn’t mean that immediately our mind if free of all those old learned responses, thoughts, and habits.  Paul told us that there would be a battle for our thoughts, a battle for our view of life, and that we couldn’t be “conformed” to the thinking of this world (Romans 12:2) but that we must be “transformed” by the renewing of our mind.  Paul actually tells us that this is the way that we can “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” for us.

Friends we must realize that the enemy is already defeated overall, but the individual battles within our mind are still at stake.  Those battles are only won, when we place those old strongholds in light of the Truth of who we serve, and who we are in Him.

If our old way of thinking is that we’re no good, stupid, can’t trust anyone, or no one loves us… those thoughts are still there even after our born again experience.  But now that we have been filled with His precious Spirit, which is the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13), those old lines of thinking must be placed side by side to the Truth of God, which says I made in the image of God, I have His righteousness, I can trust Him with my whole life, and He will never leave us nor forsake us.  Then we have that choice of believing the old lies of the enemy and our flesh, or believing the Truth of the Lord.  If we can trust Him to save us and redeem us, can’t we trust Him to set our minds free?

For the next few weeks, we will take a closer look at this warfare, and I hope that someone will be blessed and find freedom as we together are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
 - John 16:13 –