Strongholds and Renewing Your Mind

 Strongholds and Renewing Your Mind.

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”

Do you ever think about the consequences or impact that your thoughts can have? Do you know that you can choose your thoughts? The Apostle Paul tells us in the above scripture that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Renewing the mind is a biblical process; more than just positive thinking – it’s a vital step to believing God promises. It starts when our viewpoints, mindsets and heart attitudes change and come in line with the Word of God.

If our thought life is out of control it will affect our attitudes, actions and ultimately how to react towards other people. Negative thoughts are in fact harmful to our mind and body. We were not created to process anything negative, we are to operate in the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”.

We need to realise that our thinking sets the course for our lives; it’s the control centre. God’s will is for us to prosper in all areas of our life yet we will only prosper to the degree that our soul prospers (3 John 2:1). The soul is the mind, will, and emotions and the mind is exactly where the battle takes place: it’s where strongholds are and where the enemy attacks. You could have strongholds rooted in fear, anxiety, discouragement, defeat, failure, low self-esteem, poor self-image, etc. the list could be endless! But basically it’s everything that is opposite to the fruits of the Spirit above. These areas may be reinforced by the enemy’s injection of thoughts and lies, creating strongholds that prevent you from walking in the victory that Jesus purchased for you on the cross.

We believe the lies of the enemy as truth!

I was once shown that strongholds are like fortresses or castles and the enemy builds them brick by brick so he can then lurk inside them.  He injects thoughts and lies into our minds so he can oppress those he has deceived. And I believe each brick the enemy uses represents a thought process we have believed either about ourselves, our circumstances or situation etc. The worse thing about it is we actually believe his stinking lies and then curse ourselves in the process if we constantly speak them out!

Master Deceiver

The enemy is crafty. He conceals and hides so he isn’t exposed and cast out. When the enemy whispers his toxic lies he is cunning, he doesn’t make it obvious as he is the master deceiver, he prowls around making distractions, creating business for you, housework, chores etc. so you aren’t focused, then thoughts that are always in the first person will run through your mind such as: ‘I’m an accident’ or ‘I’m stupid’ or ‘I hate myself’ or “I am such a failure” or “I will never be slim” “I will never make anything of myself” “they don’t like me” “I look terrible” “I want to kill myself” etc.

These thoughts do not come from you; they come from the enemy who is evil. What he wants us to do is agree with those lies and come into agreement with them giving the enemy authority to torment us even more. It’s time we stopped allowing him to use our heads as a rubbish tip! I fell for them also – hook, line and sinker I swallowed the enemy’s filthy lies and empowered him for such a long time. So now if a thought runs through my mind I say “I’m not partnering with that” and I rebuke it in Jesus name.

We need to realise that Satan doesn’t have authority; he gave up any authority when as Lucifer he fell from Grace. But as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden we also keep yielding our dominion and authority over to him when we believe his toxic lies or if we are blinded by his deception.

2 Corinthians 10:4 ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds’

We need to pull down these strongholds by replacing those lies with the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God ‘..is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword’. It’s the only way to counteract the lies of the enemy. Jesus had to do exactly the same when He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness in Matthew 4:1. The enemy came at him three times and three times Jesus had to quote scripture. So, next time the lies or thoughts re-emerge, or even doubts, negativity and fear come knocking, we can use the word of God as a weapon of warfare and replace the lies with God’s truth.

Take authority over it

If you know you have anxiety then search for scriptures that deal with anxiety. The next time anxiety tries to come upon you, quote the word of God and tell it to be gone it will leave – it can’t stay. Use your authority and say “I will not partner with that lie in Jesus name.”  You may have to do this 100 times a day initially but a day will come when you don’t have to do it at all as you have complete freedom in that area! You need to do the same thing with each thought and keep doing it till it affects you no more!

Remember we demolish strongholds one thought process at a time, brick by brick. I would ask the Holy Spirit to alert you or give you a nudge when you need to spring into Spiritual Warfare mode and pull down those bricks! Each time the thoughts pop into your head, use them as opportunities to pull those lies and strongholds down.

2 Tim. 1:7 ‘God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power love and a sound mind’

Don’t be fearful of your thoughts, nor should you allow them to rule you! You are instead to take them captive and make them obedient to Jesus Christ. For when you do, the strongholds will tumble down and only then will you experience freedom in that area! When I first started ‘thinking on purpose’, I was astonished at the thoughts that crept through my mind, slinking past so I wouldn’t notice. But with God’s Grace, I did notice and have experienced so much personal freedom, with plenty more to come!

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”