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In review, in the process of breaking strongholds, the first step is:

1. Recognizing your captor

2. Standing in Agreement with God.

3.  Tearing down the lies that wall paper your mind.

4. Putting up the truth

Today we are talking about

5.  Bowing thoughts to truth and how to do it.

Before we can get controlling thoughts out of our minds, they must become Christ controlled thoughts while still in our minds.  That is what the word means when it says to take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.   So here are some helpful ways I have found that help me to do this.

  1. Search God’s word for scriptures that speak the mind of God to your specific stronghold.  Keep looking until you find them.
  2. Write these scriptures down…sometimes keeping them on 3×5 cards are very useful.  Because when the thought comes you whip out your cards and start speaking truth rather than the lie Satan is attempting to get you to agree with.
  3. Take these cards with you wherever you go.  You do this until the power of the stronghold is broken and you are walking out of that cell.

If you are not ready to get serious about this you will never make liberty in Christ a reality in your life.  When the enemy sees that he is about to lose a captive he will fight as hard as he can to keep you bound.  Be prepared to fight for your freedom with some radical choices.

Demolition of strongholds is radical.  Expect the battle to heat up when you start tearing down the lies.

  1. Avoid as many forms of deception as possible.  If you have been in a stronghold, your mind has been inundated with lies.  The person coming out from under the influence of lies desperately needs a season of intense deprogramming.  Until you are less vulnerable, flood your mind primarily with truth and materials that line up with the truth.  Coming out from under the influence of a long-term stronghold can be like coming out from under the influence of a drug.  You will often find that the magnitude of the stronghold takes a while to fathom.  The more you wake up to truth the more you will realize how Satan has deceived you.  It is not at all unusual to feel twice the regret several months after your release than you did when you first walked away.    The more you use Gods word the clearer your mind will become.

So, how do we as believers bow our thoughts to the truth?

By believing, speaking, and applying truth as a lifestyle.  This step is something we lived, not just something we do.  Our thought life is something we will work on for the rest of our lives in our desire to be godly.  But remember this:

  • Working on our thought lives is the only thing that will keep them from working on us.  Either our thoughts have control of us through the power of the enemy or we have control of them through the power of God.  Re-wallpapering is hard work, but rest comes as we learn to abide in what we know.
  • And staying at work on our thought lives is the very essence of godliness.  By the time you’re ready to invite God to take authority over your thought lives, you are seriously tired of living defeated lives and not willing to settle for less than what He has provided for you to walk victoriously.

The word sets Godliness as the goal for human beings occupied by the spirit of God.  It means giving our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies to God and desiring to obey him more than anything.

Until we see Jesus face to face, surrendering the inmost places of your heart and mind to God is the essence of godliness.

Romans 8:6 tells me that the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace… even when the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin, the purpose of for my life and peace.  The Spirit of God always edifies us…He does not tear us down.

When we think according the flesh, we are often anxious, unnerved, insecure, and fearful.  Not to mention greedy, lustful, jealous, and all sorts of things we were never meant to be as Christians.

To help you out a bit…here are just a few scriptures to get you started on who you really are, to combat who the enemy says you are:  I am going to read them as I confess them…you can do the same thing…how bad do you want this?

  • I am assured all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)
  • I have been established, anointed and sealed by God (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
  • I am confident that God will perfect the work He has begun in me (Philippians 1:6)
  • I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
  • I am hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)
  • I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7)
  • I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18)
  • I am blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)
  • I am chosen before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11)
  • I am holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4)
  • I am adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:5)
  • I am given God’s glorious grace lavishly and without restriction (Ephesians 1:5,8)
  • I am in Him (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:30)
  • I have redemption (Ephesians 1:8)
  • I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:8; Colossians 1:14)
  • I have purpose (Ephesians 1:9 & 3:11)
  • I have hope (Ephesians 1:12)
  • I am included (Ephesians 1:13)
  • I am sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

To learn more about Dixie’s ministry, visit ReflectionsOfGraceHome.com